He said it was a “big game kill,” something usually associated with the controversial, sometimes illegal sport of hunting large wildlife in Africa — lions, elephants, leopards and rhinoceroses.

But the photos Michael Garcia posted to Instagram were decidedly not big game. They were of a baby deer, a fawn that Garcia had just allowed his dog to kill near the Conejos River in southern Colorado, which flows into the Rio Grande. Based on its size and markings, the fawn was no more than a month or two old, not old enough to be foraging on its own. But after the kill, Garcia, 36, skinned the baby deer and displayed the hide and bones for a photo, which he also posted on Instagram. It was that photo, and its caption praising the kill, that provoked the strongest reaction on social media. Colorado Parks and Wildlife charged Garcia on July 23 with allowing his dog to harass wildlife, the illegal taking of wildlife and illegal possession of wildlife — all misdemeanors, according to Rick Basagoitia, the region’s wildlife manager at CPW. Basagoitia said it’s not difficult to violate a wildlife law; the department’s binder of rules and regulations is two and a half inches thick.     Read More

A woman busted for leaving her infant in the car as she allegedly downed two shots at a Texas bar could be seen beaming a bright smile in her mugshot. Samantha Grace Vaughan was grinning and sporting a gash on her forehead after her 2 a.m. arrest on Sunday for child endangerment charges outside of Trackside Night Club in Copperas Cove. Authorities had been dispatched to the nightspot when somebody called about a 1-year-old child left inside a running car, according to an arrest affidavit. Police found Vaughan’s infant sleeping in a safety seat in the back of the unlocked Buick, the records said. Copperas Cove police then found the child’s mom inside the bar. At first Vaughan told cops she simply stopped inside to go the bathroom, despite reeking of booze, the affidavit said. In addition to child endangerment, Vaughan was charged with resisting arrest and making a terroristic threat against a public servant.     Read More