FOLEY, Ala. — Dr. Julie Cleverdon, a veterinarian at Advanced Animal Care has many pets. Her newest addition, Roo, only a few weeks old, still drinks from a bottle. She lies in a bed under a desk with the dogs. And just like all the other dogs, she wears a collar, runs around and can be walked on a leash. But Roo isn't a dog, nor a cat, not even a goat. Roo is a deer, but don't tell her that. She might take offense and bark at you — if she could.

Two young boys found Roo after spotting her dead mother on the Interstate. They brought her to Cleverdon after trying to raise Roo by themselves. After seeing Roo had developed diarrhea, they knew it was out of their hands. After some heavy research, Cleverdon discovered goat's milk was the best to nurse her back to health, along with fluids through an IV. But don't dare try to give her store-bought milk; she prefers the fresh stuff.

"I'm still needing to feed her about six times a day," she said. "She was so small when she came to me; only a few pounds. She's growing so quickly now, she's at least four times the size she was when they brought her in."

Now that her strength has been regained and she has grown in size, Roo spends her days lying in the bed with rescue dog Tootie, and running on Cleverdon's land with the family's five dogs.

"My dogs at home know not to hurt her or anything and to be real gentle with her," she said. "They know if mama brings home a dog to be real sweet with them. I bring home rescues all the time. Roo's no different to them."

Being around so many dogs both at the Cleverdon home and at the clinic is the biggest influence in Roo becoming so tame and her believing she is, in fact, a dog herself.

"She knows every morning to get in her carrier, just like all the other dogs. And if I'm home she will run in circles with the dogs and play, but only if I'm there. Otherwise, she just lies down."

While pseudo-domesticated and entirely friendly, Roo's wild instincts still pop up from time to time. If Cleverdon is not around, she will lie as flat as possible on the ground to hide.

"In nature, the babies are taught to stay hidden while the mama grazes all day because they are so defenseless. They know not to come out until she comes back."

So sure is Roo that Cleverdon is her mother, she will only feed from her and makes a soft squeaking noise when licking her. While friendly to everyone she meets, she reserves the sound only for Cleverdon, and only comes to her calls.

Roo even finds herself conflicted between her wild instincts and her tame ways. At home with Cleverdon's husband, Roo was outside when a storm came through. Cleverdon asked her husband to bring Roo in from the rain, but when he attempted to approach her she ran and hid in the woods, as nature tells her to do.

"I came home and started calling her name over and over. I couldn't see her anywhere," she said. "I walked the entire horse pasture in the rain calling her forever. She must have finally heard me because she came flying out of nowhere and just followed me home."

When not at home or at the clinic, Roo travels to nursing homes and schools.

"I'll send a class the Bambi movie. Then, I'll bring in Roo and a rabbit I have and they get to meet Bambi and Thumper. The kids love it, they just go nuts." Roo has also made a trip to Mercy Medical and plans on a repeat appearance.

Cleverdon is sure to warn others that deer are not meant to be pets and shouldn't be captured with such intentions.

"Don't ever take a baby away from it's mother, ever," she said. "They're still wild animals and they're gonna act that way. They're not pets."

Cleverdon spends much of her time rescuing animals of the more domesticated variety that do make appropriate pets. Currently working with a woman who was running a puppy mill with almost 100 puppies, she has aggreed to voluntarily give them up for adoption. Cleverdon and her staff are working to find them all good homes.

"They're all sweet, adoptable dogs, they just need a lot of fixing up," she said. "We get them healthy and socialize them with the other dogs here at the clinic. I even take them home to my family and kid test them. They'd all make great pets, they just need a great home."

Currently, they have adopted out about 30 of the 100 puppies. Working in conjunction with the Baldwin County Animal Resuce Center, she also rescues dogs scheduled to be put to sleep and frequently holds adoption drives to find those animals a home.

For now, Roo won't appear at any adoption drive. She's perfectly at home with the dogs.