Greeley family in hot water over pet antelope who is friends with dog

Rocky Mountain News

Published August 23, 2007 at midnight

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Poudre and Skeeter are best friends, but there's a problem — Skeeter is a dog, and Poudre is a 3-month-old antelope who isn't supposed to be a pet.

And a Greeley family faces thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time for apparently bringing the pronghorn from Wyoming and raising it, according to the Greeley Tribune.

Wildlife officials have taken Poudre to a wildlife refuge, ending its frolics along the Poudre River Trail with Skeeter, a neighbor's dog, the Tribune reported.

Jay Funk, who lives in a home near the trail, was among the startled folks who saw Skeeter and Poudre on the trail just west of 83rd Avenue early Wednesday morning.

"I looked out my window and saw him walking around the trail with a dog," Funk said. "I thought it was another dog at first."

As they slowed to take a closer look, it became even more apparent that the pronghorn — which is the fastest land mammal in North America — was tame.

The problem is that the 15-pound pronghorn was likely brought over the Wyoming line, Larry Rogstad, district wildlife officer for the Greeley North Division of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, told the Tribune.

Rogstad said the nearest antelope indigenous to this area are 20 air miles away, he said. He is investigating whether the family picked up the animal there.

"That is a very serious crime," he told the Tribune. "This is a case of where someone took an antelope from the wild, and it is totally imprinted now. The animal actually thinks he's a human. The chances of long-term survival are greatly diminished."

Riders along the trail called Rogstad's office for fear the animal would get hurt as the area is filled heavily with coyotes, the Tribune reported.

Poudre, who is believed to have grown up with Skeeter, won't go anywhere without the dog.

"It's just the craziest thing I've ever seen," Ronda Underwood of Greeley told the Tribune. She said Poudre came up to her and nudged its head and neck along her leg, almost begging to be petted. "We were just riding along the trail and saw this antelope playing with a dog."

Rogstad said regardless of what the intent is, people need to be aware that just possessing live wildlife is a crime.

"It's all wrong. When they found it, if they had they called us right away, it would have been raised the right way," Rogstad told the Tribune. "Even though you don't see mom around, leave it alone. They are trained to stay until mom gets back. Nevertheless, it's in a better place now. But it's going to take several months to know if it's going to ever live in the wild."

If, at some point, caregivers believe Poudre is unable to be released, he will be transferred to another facility to live out his life and be watched in a research program that will help wildlife officers learn more about the life of pronghorns.

Rogstad told the Tribune he could not release names of the people he believes may have brought the animal into Weld County. He said they could face several charges, ranging from illegal possession of live wildlife and transporting wildlife across state lines. In addition, the state of Wyoming could press charges, and the game and fish division could pursue its own charges. Rogstad said the penalties could be thousands of dollars in fines and jail time. The case is still under investigation.

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