This is such a moving story about the power of love! When a blind, dying baby deer came to veterinarian Melanie Butera in 2004, little did she know the fawn would have a profound effect on the way she looked at the world.
She wrote, “Love came into our lives in the most improbable of vehicles – the tiny hooves of a dying fawn.” At the time, Melanie was diagnosed with cancer and looking after the tiny, sick fawn taught her “every life is a gift”.
Melanie and Dillie got better and Dillie even recovered 50% of her vision. Dillie came from a deer farm as a baby, so she is not a wild deer and therefore could not be returned to the wild. She continues to live inside the Butera’s home.
Dillie has her own bedroom in their house in Canal Fulton, Ohio. She is potty-trained and does her business outside. She also knows how to turn the lights on, use the water faucet and likes to snack on lollipops! When she’s not lounging in bed, she loves to play in the yard, swim in the pool and eat her hay.
Melanie has also written two books about her adventures with Dillie: Dillie the Deer: A True Story of Love, Healing, and Family and Dillie the Deer: Love on Hooves.
Please share this amazing story with your family and friends!
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