Have you ever done a good deed and gotten punished for it? Or had to do the right thing but others would consider wrong? One couple is facing some serious jail time for helping out one of nature's most vulnerable creatures.

Jeff and Jennifer Counceller from Connorsville, Ind. found an injured and malnourished fawn just over two years ago and started nursing it back to health. "I could feel all of the open wounds all along her back side and she wouldn't stand up," Jennifer Counceller told ABC News. When the fawn, named Little Orphan Dani, had healed she stayed put at the police officers home simply because she wanted to. The couple willingly let her stay, she had somewhat become family.

Late last summer, an Indiana Conservation Officer stopped by their home and inquired about the deer. The couple explained their story and how she got there, and that they had not kept her illegally or harmed her in any way. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources didn't care, they wanted to euthanize Dani, stating that she might be "dangerous and a threat to people". Needless to say the Councellers were devastated.

On the day the Little Orphan Dani was to be put down, she escaped from the back yard and ran off into the wild. Although Dani is no longer in their care, the Councellers were still charged with a misdemeanor and face jail time plus heavy fines for illegally harboring a deer. This case will be in court next month; and if charges aren't dropped it will be left for a jury to decide whether the Councellers broke the law.

"No matter what the law is, we did what was right for the animal," the couple stated.

The story has caused a huge uproar across the country and online. A Facebook support page has almost 17,000 "Likes" in support of the couple. An online petition to drop the charges already has  just over 14,000 signatures.

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