Footage shows white deer in Bootle car park

A video shows a distressed white deer in a car park in Bootle, Merseyside, before police said they made the "difficult decision" to shoot it.

Merseyside Police said there had been "huge efforts" to save the wild animal including several attempts to sedate it before officers shot it dead on Sunday.

People reacted angrily on social media, with some describing it as "brutal".

The British Deer Society said it understood people felt "shocked and upset" but said it believed "every reasonable effort" had been made by police "to achieve a non-lethal solution".

29 September 2021