Christmas Tree Mogul, Son Deny Guilt in Deer’s Death
A San Fernando Valley Christmas tree mogul and his son pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of animal cruelty in the death of a deer that they used to represent Santa’s reindeer on sales lots in December.
Stuart T. Miller, 62, and William T. Miller, 31, of Malibu, operators of Miller & Sons Christmas Tree Co., entered pleas in San Fernando Municipal Court and trial was scheduled for Nov. 15. The charges are misdemeanors punishable by a year in jail and a $21,000 fine.
Deputy City Atty. Norman Wegener said the Millers used the deer for promotional purposes at several Christmas tree lots in the Valley. During the off-season the animals--which are not reindeer, but smaller European fallow deer--stay at a lot in the 12700 block of Jolette Avenue in Granada Hills.
Complaints from neighbors led city animal control officers to the lot Aug. 7. The officers posted a notice on the property, warning the Millers to respond within 24 hours.
When no response came, the officers returned three days later and found one of the deer dying with its antlers caught in a chicken-wire fence, and eight others living in a lot strewn with debris. Their water tubs were dry, there was no food and little shelter from the 100-plus-degree heat, Wegener said.
The Millers have moved the eight surviving deer to land they own in Acton.
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