But the next morning when he saw the same deer, its back end bloody and its head bobbing by the side of Jones Ferry Road, he got angry.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” the semi-retired law enforcement officer said. “It’s something so simple to take care of.”

Here’s what happened:

Horne was driving home Saturday, March 10, when he saw the animal. He said he called the sheriff’s office and got a call back a few minutes later from the state wildlife services office. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has one officer assigned to Orange County. He wasn’t working, and the caller asked if Horne could kill the animal himself. He said he was no longer at the scene and could not, and he said the caller said they would send someone out.

Horne was so upset to see the mortally wounded doe the next day he wrote a letter to the Chapel Hill News, which appears today.

Carolyn Rickard, a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Resources Commission, said the agency asked the Sheriff’s Office for help. Maj. Charles Blackwood, of the Sheriff’s Office, said he checked telecommunication records and that 911 sent the Highway Patrol, not the Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt Jeff Gordon, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol, said troopers do euthanize animals and the patrol did get a call at 9:26 p.m. that night, but it’s not clear the trooper ever found the deer. The call was closed at 10:17 p.m.

Years ago, calls like Horne’s were handled by the county. But Animal Services director Bob Marotto says budget cuts make that nearly impossible now.

“It’s a hard issue,” Marotto said. “There aren’t enough resources.”

Horne, who got his friend to shoot the animal between the eyes with a .22 shotgun that Sunday, said there’s no reason for an animal to suffer like that.

“Had I known, I would have put some dirty clothes on to go back and do it myself.”