Helena resident Kathy McGuire is used to seeing deer dining on shrubbery and drinking from bird baths near her upper east side home.

On Wednesday, however, those placid images were shattered when a two-point buck entered her fenced yard, gored her dog and apparently stood guard over the canine as the animal bled to death.

According to McGuire, she didn't notice the buck when she let her 110-pound Weimaraner, Melvin, out of the house for his morning potty break at about 9 a.m.

Even if she had, she didn't think she would have done anything differently -- Melvin was afraid of deer and wouldn't have bothered the animal anyway.

True to form, McGuire said, when Melvin noticed the buck, he turned tail and headed back toward the open sliding door.

"(The deer) just came up behind him and threw him," she said. "He tossed him all across the yard."

At that point, the buck cornered a severely bleeding Melvin against the fence and stood over the dog's body for several minutes.

McGuire said she waved a rake at the deer and even threw rocks at the animal to distract its attention from her dying pet, but to no avail.

By the time the buck left the yard, Melvin had stopped breathing, she said.

The city's animal control officer responded to the home and, along with officials from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, tracked the deer.

According to Mike Korn, regional supervisor for FWP, the deer was shot by game wardens soon after the attack.

"Given the fact (the deer) acted in that way, we considered it a public safety issue," he said.

Korn said the deer was clearly in rut and likely was interested in a couple of does that were lingering in the area of the McGuire home.

"He might have viewed (the dog) as competition," he said.

Korn explained that male deer can become aggressive at this time of year, although this is the first incident that he is aware of, locally, that a pet has been killed by one.

He added that the deer had an old injury on one of his back flanks and discomfort stemming from that might have caused the deer to be particularly hostile.

McGuire said she wants people to be aware of the potential danger posed by deer during their mating season and she hopes the city or state will take action to reduce the deer population within the city limits.

"It could've been me," she said. "It could've been my kids."

Korn said discussions have been ongoing among various agencies to develop a plan to address the problem of wildlife straying into urban areas, but a solution hasn't yet been reached.

"It's not something that has gone unnoticed or ignored by any means," he said.

In the meantime, Korn encourages area residents to remember that deer are wild animals and should not be approached under any circumstances.

He also warns homeowners against attempting to coax the deer into their yards by feeding them.

Korn said the McGuires did not do anything to encourage the animal into their yard.

"This was an accident, a terrible thing to have happen," he said.