A policeman in Lexington, Kentucky, became a wildlife rescuer Wednesday when he got a call about a deer stuck in a neighbor’s swimming pool.
Bodycam footage showed the moment when Officer Flannery of the Lexington Police Department (LPD) approached the exhausted animal as it lay with its head on the edge of the pool, according to the video posted to YouTube.
“Let me check him out,” he told the dispatcher, who said animal control was on their way. However, because it was 18 degrees outside, Officer Flannery decided to take matters into his own hands.
As he leaned down and touched the deer’s leg, the creature did not respond. But when he gently pulled on it, the deer slightly lifted its head.
“That’s too slick,” Flannery said as he tried to pull the deer out of the freezing water.
Moments later, a neighbor asked the officer if he needed help. “Yeah, if you want to help we can get it out real quick,” he replied.
“I’ve just got one foot off the edge,” he told the neighbor as the man leaned down to grab hold of the deer’s back legs.
“Just don’t slip in,” Flannery said.
Seconds later, the two men were able to lift the deer to safety and it immediately got up on its feet and ran off into the nearby woods.
“Well, she’s good!” Flannery exclaimed as he watched the animal bound away.
Wednesday, the Lexington Police Department tweeted the video with a caption that read, “You never know what a day on patrol will bring!”
One Twitter user asked if pulling the deer out by its legs was the correct way to do it.
“But can a deer shoulders take that kind of strain? This would dislocate a dog’s leg,” the person wrote.
Another user responded and said it was, in fact, the right way to perform the rescue.
“It’s exactly how you assist a mare when she is foaling. The front legs come out first; you grab on to them and pull,” said the post.
“Well done, LPD. I am a proud resident of Lexington and appreciate all you do to keep us safe, whether we walk on two legs or four,” she concluded.
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