León man reported for keeping a deer that won't leave his side

The story of Pepa and Javi sounds like a fairytale, a Disney film or at least a story that gets passed down through the generations. However, for Javier, a resident of La Vecilla de Curueño in León, it has become a story of sadness and helplessness after he was reported for keeping Pepa, a young deer that came into his life spontaneously and is now considered "one of the family".

Javier has lived all his life in the town, where he has run the well-known Bar El Cruce for more than 35 years, a regular meeting point for the locals, according to Leonoticias. Renowned for his friendliness and his constant smile, he has always maintained a close relationship with the countryside and animals.

"I've had a passion for them since I was a child," he explains. In addition to his work in the bar, he looks after several sheep as a hobby, dedicating a good part of his free time to them. As the years have gone by, his involvement in the countryside has increased, although he never imagined that he would end up creating a bond as deep as the one that unites him and Pepa today.

According to Leonoticias, it all began in November 2024. Every day Javier would go to a nearby farm to feed his four sheep when, on one of the first days of winter, he noticed something different among them: an animal without white wool, but instead with brown fur and a thin muzzle. This "different sheep" was in fact a young deer that had decided to enter the farm of its own free will.

Pepa arrived alone, without being called or held back. She came and went quite naturally, lived with the sheep and, little by little, got used to the environment. "For months she went in and out as if she were one of them," recalls Javier. Their bond grew naturally: the neighbours, their children and the whole village got used to seeing them together. Those who observed them spoke of a special connection, which was difficult to explain.

But in March 2025 the situation took an unexpected turn when the Guardia Civil went to Javier's home after noticing the presence of the deer and proceeded to report him in application of Law 42/2007, which prohibits the possession of wild animals as pets without administrative authorisation.

Javier was forced to close the doors of the farm to Pepa. However, the separation was not easy. The deer, expelled from the place where she had learned to live, decided to stay outside, waiting. "Every day I see her at the door, waiting for me to come out," Javier says sadly. He has even had to start taking the car to go to the bar, just a few metres away, to avoid the animal following him. "She follows me everywhere and I'm afraid that something might happen to her," he confesses.

The complaint formally arrived in September 2025. Since then, Javier knows that environmental agents could come at any time to remove the animal. "It's a moment I don't even want to think about", he admits. He says that he has never stopped Pepa from leaving: "I haven't kept her, she is free, but she doesn't want to go".

Today, the image of Pepa waiting patiently at the doors of the bar while Javier attends to the customers has become part of everyday life in the village. Always attentive to his every move, as if she doesn't understand why he can no longer be by her side.

Javier understands that Pepa is a wild animal and that the law is clear, but he can't help fearing for her safety. "I don't want to think about the day they take her away, but I also don't want a car to end her life or something worse to happen to her," he says.

It was not Javier who chose Pepa, it was Pepa who chose Javier. A complex and painful situation that confronts the letter of the law with a reality that, for those who know them, is evident.