Matt Agorist | The Free Thought Project

Ulysses, KS — An infuriating and heart-breaking video was posted to social media recently of a family’s beloved pet deer, Faline, named after the Disney Bambi character, was gunned down in front of them — for being illegal.

In Kansas, keeping wild animals as pets is illegal.

However, it wasn’t like Kim Mcgaughey and her family lived in the city and had some tiger in their apartment. No, the Mcgaugheys live on a farm and the deer wasn’t stolen from the wild and brought to their home. Instead, the family nursed Faline back to health after she showed up at their farm with a broken leg.

Only after Faline refused to leave did the family start feeding her.

After that, the deer quickly became a part of the family. She would often times go inside the home and sleep in Kim’s room.

“She would get on the bed and stand like she owned the place,” said Taryn Mcgaughey, a fashion, fitness and glamour model.

“But she had free rein to do whatever the heck she wanted.

“There was no way you could keep her in an enclosure.”

According to NBC Los Angeles, authorities got wind of the ‘illegal’ deer after Mcgaughey asked on Facebook whether anyone had seen the deer when it disappeared for several days. She was issued a ticket for “unlawful possession of wildlife without a permit,” said Mark Rankin, law enforcement assistant director for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

However, only minutes after giving her a ticket, law enforcement officers killed Faline.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Kim’s daughter Taryn, speaking to The Independent.

“All of our people have a real heart for wildlife,” Rankin said after his officers killed Faline. “I can’t imagine any of our employees enjoying something like this.”

However, it appears that they may have enjoyed it, according to the family.

“One shot to the head would have been enough but then he shot her in the leg and four times in the back.

“He treated her like target practice,” explained Mcgaughey.

“My son broke down to his knees when he found out she was dead,” she said of her 8-year-old boy who’d grown attached to their pet deer.

“My mum, it’s real hard for her to talk about. It was like Faline was part of the family, it’s just hard,” her son said.

According to Taryn Mcgaughey, the officers wrongly killed Faline, as owners were supposed to be given 30 days to contest a penalty notice over an unlicensed pet and a further 10 days to get a license, reports the Independent.

The video below is graphic and hard to watch. Faline, who’s been around people for most of her life appears to know that the armed men at her home are there to harm her, so she tries to avoid them.

Eventually, however, they catch up to her and kill her — as the family cries in horror.

This instance is similar to the situation that unfolded in Clackamas County, OR, when police officers killed a family’s miniature pony.

When the Fitzgerald family discovered that their pony was missing last month, they began frantically searching. When they found the pony, however, she had died from a gunshot wound to the head.

The police initially claimed that the family’s 30-year-old American Miniature Horse was hit by a car, so the deputy was kind and put it out of its misery with his police issued shotgun.