Canton of Vaud veterinary officials are struggling to find a home for a menagerie of animals owned by a man sentenced to life in prison for murdering his adoptive mother, a woman friend of hers and his sister in 2005.

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The 48-year-old triple murderer, whose life term was upheld by Switzerland’s top court after several years of legal procedures, left behind a troupe of deer, two donkeys, two alpacas, a horse, three dogs and a clutch of hens at his home in Monts-de-Corsier, 20 Minutes reported online.

The home is the object of civil actions undertaken by a bank, which is trying to recover mortgage payments and interest, the news website said.

The murderer’s wife is a part-owner of the home but does not live there, the website said.

A neighbour has taken the two donkeys, the hens and the dogs but the canton’s veterinary department  is still looking for people to take the other animals.

This is complicated because they are classified as wildlife, so they cannot be adopted by just anyone, the department says.

“It is necessary to fulfil many conditions to keep the deer," Jean-Luc Mermoud, veterinary affairs deputy chief told 20 Minutes.

“The first requirement: to take specific training, which takes a week.”

After receiving a certificate, you still need to obtain authorization from the cantonal wildllife department and a vet.

If a qualified person is not found for the animals they will have to be destroyed.

The development is just the latest to follow in the wake of the triple murder, dating from Christmas Eve 2005 in Vevey.

Investigators discovered the lifeless bodies of the man’s mother and her friend with traces of his DNA on January 4th 2006.

The body of his sister was never found.

The man, evidently an animal lover, has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.