Our little shizu, Shinshin, made an extra effort to the very end. Suffering the life-draining cancer didn't seem to deter her from hanging on to the last tiny hope. This showed that our common practice of putting an injured animal to sleep is out of convenience, not mercy.
So in this world of ever-expanding terrorism and accelerating terrorists-creation, it may be a refreshing change of pace to entertain ourselves with devising a rescue plan for injured deers that we often found along roadsides.
Based on many failed experiences in the past and one recent experience that could have made it if only I am given another chance, let me describe the procedures that could work:
1.Once an injured deer is found, either pull it to the side of the road or mark the spot somehow to prevent other cars from running over it again.
2.Get a blanket and a lot of heavy-duty tape.
3.Tie the legs together and wrap up the deer in the blanket so it can be carried without having to touch it(and get poison oak or ticks/fleas from it) and without the frightened deer putting up a struggle.
4.Take it home and put it on something soft, like grass, as it could still jump around and cause further injuries.
5.THINGS NOT TO DO:(as it caused me finally to have to give up last time)
(1)Dont let your wife know, if you are married.
(2)Dont call the animal care and control people or the police, both of whom would only have 30 seconds to make the whole thing go away.
(3)Dont call the vets as it's illegal for them to treat wild animals even if you are willing to pay for the work.
(4)Dont get cold feet, like not tieing the legs really tight, or doing a half-hearted jobs on what are to be described below(as this is the other reason why I failed last time). Remember, you are trying to overcome the overwhelming odds that it must die.
6.Stop any external bleeding by doing your dying best to choke up the bleeding(you see, it's either you die, or the deer dies, as the latter happened to me when I didnt really kill myself to stop the bleeding).
7.Get a plastic garbage can large enough to contain the four legs of the dear.
8.Load up the can high enough with ice and water to mitigate external or internal breeding.
9.Tie or glue a canvas or heavy cloth over the top of the can and make four holes so the legs can go thru them in such a way as to incapacitate the deer's motion.
10.Once things settle down a little bit, cut a hole in the can for doing any surgery or bone joining, using plastic of paris or what have you.
11.Finally try to get the deer to resign to its condition. The deer I tried to save seemed to respond well to patting, but not rough handling.
12.The best try for the long-term solution is begging the local zoo to take it. The selling pitch is that even though it's impossible, but we tried.
13.I wont recommend keeping the deer as a pet, as I dont believe in divorce.
I dont know if it meant anything, but my long lost friend, Lee Teng Whew, a raccoon, came back for a visit the day after I tried to save the injured deer.
You see, this same raccoon one time gave me the ultimate trick or treat. It BM'ed in my shoes faster than a magician -- so fast I only realized it when my foot felt the warmth of the laughable trick. And I only woke up to the fact that I owed him a treat when I was blocked from entering the garage the next day.
I know most grownups would consider these kinds of things are idle exercises for the idle busy bodies. Let's just hope that the kids would see it as the future they dream. Finally, we are paying attentioon to saving our own rather than only attracted to the foreign and exotic.