Ann Arbor firefighters assist in the rescue of a deer that was stranded on an embankment at Gallup Park.
Courtesy of Humane Society of Huron Valley
The young buck made its way onto a sheet of ice over the Huron River, then to the Gallup Park bridge embankment in the middle of the river.
A concerned motorist called the Humane Society of Huron Valley after spotting the deer under the bridge. Matt Schaecher, director of animal cruelty investigations and animal rescue, responded to the scene and called the Ann Arbor Fire Department for assistance.
“I’ve got to give them credit; they were fantastic,” Schaecher said. “Their response time was phenomenal.”
A fire crew arrived with a rescue boat to help the animal back to the shore. Schaecher said the crew had to break up remaining ice around the embankment and then ushered the buck to the water, where it swam to shore and sprinted back to the wooded park.
“It was uninjured and ran down the shore next to the fences,” Schaecher said, “then hopped the fence and ran back into the woods. He was fine.”
