An Oakland resident took out his garbage this morning and was shocked to find a young deer literally stuck in his gate. It appeared the deer had attempted to leap between the bars of the wrought iron gate to get to the other side but became stuck when her entire body was unable to pass through. She looked like she had been trapped for hours since her skin was rubbed raw on both sides of her body. The resident called Oakland Police Department – two Oakland Animal Services’ staff responded to the scene. They saw that the deer was still thrashing about trying to free herself and was obviously exhausted from the struggle.
Wedged Between the Bars of the Gate – 3 inch Space!
The staff looked her over and saw that her wounds appeared to be superficial and that she did not seem to have any broken bones. She had become so wedged between the bars (a space approximately 3 inches wide) that there was no way to safely and painlessly free her without tranquilization. Oakland Animal Services’ staff injected her with a tranquilizer in her back leg. Her thrashing soon slowed down, her head began to get heavy and she finally fell asleep. At this point, the two staff of Oakland Animal Services were able to handle her without causing her stress and manipulate her body to safely remove her from the gate.
Freed but Still Sleeping
Staff then carried the deer from the driveway and placed her safely in a shady spot up the hill – the very place she had been aiming for! Then they injected her with a drug to reverse the effect of the tranquilizer. The young deer slowly started to wake up where she found herself freed from her nightmare.
Safe in the Shade
Time to Wake Up
Oakland Animal Services receives calls every year regarding deer that have become trapped and even impaled on fences. Staff encourage Oakland residents in areas with high populations of deer to cover fences and gates with chicken wire and consider removing sharp tops of fences to prevent these types of accidents.
