Lawrenceville woman to stand trial over rescued deer kept on farm

New Jersey state officials pursue charges even though the animal is gone.

A Lawrenceville woman who raised an orphan deer on her 30-acre farm will stand trial next week for illegally harboring the animal, even though she no longer knows where it is.

Cammy Lowe, owner of TLC Country Stables, faces charges of keeping the deer without a permit, possessing a protected species, and interfering with a conservation officer, according to court records.

A municipal judge will hear her case on April 29 in what Lowe’s attorney, John Hartmann, said will likely be a one-day bench trial.

If found guilty, she could face fines or jail time, he said. But what has amazed him is the state’s tireless pursuit of an animal lover who simply could not let an innocent fawn die.

“If she had a half-ounce of cocaine and a gun in the barn, she would not be facing jail time,” Hartmann told The Jersey Vindicator. “It’s crazy that they’re talking about jail for this woman. It’s nuts. It’s obscene.”

“The state’s coming down on her like a ton of bricks,” he continued. “I’m at a complete loss.”

Beyond that, Lowe isn’t even sure where the deer is anymore. She removed him from her property when the state got involved, fearing he’d be euthanized, her attorney said.

And it’s not clear what she did with him.

“She does not have the deer,” Hartmann said. “That’s the information I have.”

The case sprang from a July 2024 visit to Lowe’s farm by Wildlife Conservation Police Officer Andrew Riviello of New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, who was investigating an anonymous tip that Lowe had sheltered the wild animal.

Riviello told her authorities would have to confiscate her companion, whom she had named Rudolph and had cared for since he first wandered out of the woods and onto her farm in May 2019.

Lowe found the baby’s dead mother lying in the forest that day and called the Mercer County Wildlife Center to ask for help. But workers there were less than interested.

The county wouldn’t come pick up her new furry friend, they said. Instead, she should just put the deer back in the woods and “let nature take its course.”

The fawn would die if she did that, she thought. So she brought him to her barn and fed him every three hours, day and night, for the next two months until he could eat regular food.

The two quickly forged a deep bond as little “Rudy” joined her already extensive farm family, which included horses, sheep, pigs, goats, and alpacas.

“Rudy likes to cuddle with me and nuzzle me every day,” Lowe told Planet Princeton. “He’s always been very gentle and sweet. He loves carrots and strawberries.”

But it didn’t last.

Riviello parked in front of the Van Kirk Road farm that July day and told a worker that he was there to investigate the deer, according to court documents.

Lowe brought him to the barn and said Rudy’s stall was all the way at the end. The officer walked up, saw the animal, and took a picture.

“He explained at that time it was not lawful to have a deer in captivity, and he would be having the deer removed,” according to court documents. “He requested the defendant sign a voluntary release form, which she declined to do, at which time he advised her that he would be returning to remove the deer at a later point.”

Lowe tried to work around this by registering Rudy as an emotional support animal, then applying to the state for permission to keep him.

But the state denied the request because people can’t keep deer as pets in New Jersey. They’re listed as a potentially dangerous species since they often contract chronic wasting disease, a fatal and incurable neurological illness.

The sickness can’t hurt people or livestock, but spreads quickly among herds of deer, elk, moose, and mule deer.

The Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees Fish and Wildlife, declined to comment on the case.

But in the denial, authorities said Lowe acquired Rudy illegally, never specified why she wanted to keep him, and didn’t provide enough information about where he came from.

“Your application states that the baby deer came out of the woods and walked right up to you before bringing it home with you, proving the deer was not legally acquired,” the state’s letter read. “The animal must be surrendered to New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers.”

But Lowe said the castrated, docile deer couldn’t live in the wild because he was hand-raised and too timid to explore the outdoors on his own.

“He is used to being in the barn where he feels secure,” she said at the time. “Even just transporting him, he will be scared to death. Every veterinarian I’ve talked to … says the same thing, that it’s cruel to the animal to take it away from the only mother it has ever known.”

Lowe removed the deer from her farm shortly after. But the state hasn’t relented.

Hartmann said that after one recent court date, the state offered Lowe a plea deal: Pay a $100 fine, give up the deer, and walk away.

She rejected the deal.

“First of all, she doesn’t know where the deer is,” Hartmann said. “And second of all, we’re not going to give the deer up because they’re just trying to kill it. Rescuers don’t rat.”

Now, he’s just hoping the judge sees things her way.

“This nice woman who takes care of animals, and they’re threatening jail,” he said. “We’re playing for pretty high stakes here.”