Runaway Reindeer Shot By Hunter
Blitzen Bolted During Feeding Time

UPDATED: 7:50 p.m. EST December 7, 2001

FRANKLIN PARK, Pa. -- Employees of a Franklin Park garden center got the news they had been dreading on Friday.

Blitzen, a reindeer that escaped from Tee Pee Garden Center on Route 910 and Rochester Road, was shot and killed by a hunter who mistook him for a deer, WTAE-TV's Emily Ryan reported.

The reindeer was one of three featured in a Christmas display at the center, which rents the animals from a Titusville farm.

Two of the reindeer, Blitzen and Donner, apparently wandered out of an open gate during feeding time Thursday. Donner was recaptured, but Blitzen took off.

A homeowner said he saw a reindeer matching Blitzen's description in his yard, about 3/4 of a mile from the center, but he had fled by the time employees arrived.

"We're all very upset and distraught," Tee Pee employee Jennifer Smith said. "We feel like we've lost a member of our family here."

"We hope this will make people more cautious of what they're doing during hunting season. Don't get Buck Fever and shoot at anything that moves."

Blitzen's owner has not decided what, if any, action he will take, and Ryan reported that there was confusion about who would ultimately handle a complaint.

Pennsylvania Game Commission officials said the shooting is a police matter because reindeer are not covered under the deer and wildlife code, but local police told Ryan the incident falls under Game Commission jurisdiction.
Copyright 2001 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.