Who was Jodi Proger? Animal Activist reportedly mauled to death by rescued deer

A 64-year-old Stewartsville, Belmont County, Ohio resident, Jodi Proger, died on Saturday, November 15, after being trapped inside an enclosure with her rescue deer. Authorities responded to a 911 call from family members, who reported that Proger was trapped with a male deer, according to ABC 6.

Jodi Proger was a homemaker who rescued animals. According to her X bio, she rescued a 5-day-old deer and named it Wheezer after its mother died in a car accident. According to The New York Post, Proger had been caring for deer on her property in Stewartsville for 12 years.

Her obituary notes that Proger rescued other animals, who were often injured and advocated for causes related to wildlife. She was an animal lover who also rode horses.

Proger is survived by her husband, Anthony “Tony” L. Proger, her daughter, Jennifer Bryan and a sister, in addition to three grandchildren and four step-grandchildren, according to her obituary.

About the incident that took Jodi Proger’s life

Jodi Proger was trapped alongside one of her rescue bucks in an enclosure when Belmont County police officers responded to an emergency call by one of her family members. According to The New York Post, the authorities had to shoot the deer to make their way to Proger, who died at the scene because of the extent of her injuries.

Proger’s death is currently being investigated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, who are also looking into the conditions that the deer was kept in, as per ABC 6.

Her daughter, Jennifer Bryan, set the record straight in relation to her mother’s death on social media. While responding to unverified facts being published by some media outlets, Bryan wrote,

“THE NEWS ARTICLES ARE A JOKE! DON’T believe everything you read! I’m so angry but the post was deleted when I started firing back.”

She provided insight into the incident, and while recalling the events of the day that her mother died, said,

“She was alone, my step dad was in a work accident in ICU and we were navigating everything the best we could…The deer escaped his enclosure, we are unsure of how this happened…My step dad called when he was unable to reach her…My husband went instead of me, because when I realized she had not been active in FB, my heart dropped and unfortunately I have suffered tremendous loss and witnessing it has changed me.”

While sharing that her husband tried to trace Proger before they called 911, Bryan added,

“My husband searched the property, unable to locate her what seemed like hours but was probably 20 minutes, he discovered the deer was not locked in and he struggled to close him in. The deer almost broke my husbands hands during the struggle.  I started calling my mother phone to help Matt locate her…I must have been calling as he tried calling me, bc I received a text call me and by his voice when he said, call 911, I knew it was bad.”

In her note, Bryan also shared that Proger was not killed by her first rescue deer, Wheezer. She also stated that her mother had all the necessary permits from the ODNR.