BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (WHDH) — Deputies arrested two men Sunday after they found several endangered Key deer hogtied in a car.
A Monroe County deputy pulled over the car due to a broken tail light Sunday morning. That’s when he noticed two of the deer struggling in the backseat. He then found a third in the trunk.
The deputy contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after he discovered the endangered deer bound with heavy twine in the back of the vehicle.
Wildlife officials released all three deer back into the wild to prevent further stress. Two ran off directly into the woods, but one is still in the area and being monitored.
The two men in the vehicle, 18-year-old Erik Acosta of Miami Gardens and 23-year-old Tumani Younge of Tamarac, were arrested on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including injuring an endangered species and animal cruelty.
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