SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO.COM) Sioux Falls is not a safe place to live - for deer.
Animal Control Supervisor Julie DeJong says the city's annual deer herd culling program is good for citizens, but also good for the deer. If they're not getting hit on the road by a car, there are other dangers.
"We've had deer that get their legs stuck in sewer grates and then they're broken and they can't go on," says DeJong. She says a few of the animals shot this year were injured, so it was really putting them out of their misery. The hunt helps keep the deer herd healthy.
Specially trained police officers shot 50 deer - the limit - between January 1 and March 13, focused in the southeast and northeast parts of town. The venison was donated to help the needy.
Although it may be good for the deer, the city really conducts the annual hunts to cut down on the number of residents hitting deer with their vehicles and to minimize landscaping damage by hungry, roving deer..