Friday, October 26, 2007

She chooses not to pass the buck

Posted @ 4:15 PM



Editor’s note: The following story was written by SignOnSanDiego.com user Kristin Kidney, who on Wednesday chose to stop and make a difference in the midst of the wildfire chaos:

By Kristin Kidney

While driving to work on Wednesday at 5:30 a.m., I came upon a young buck resting in the road.
It appeared as though in his travels from the fires he was hit by a car. As a result he only had 1/2 of his right ear, his right eye suffered a blow and was weeping and obviously had an injured spot on it. He had a scrape to his right shoulder and a few other small hairless spots but, to his luck, no broken bones.

There isn't much a person can do on their own, given the devastation of the fires here in San Diego this past week, but I knew this little guy needed help.

He let me pick him up and as I reached to open the jeep door (which I should have unlocked and opened before I picked him up!) he seemed to have decided maybe he shouldn't have let me pick him up. He began struggling to get away from me.

Fearful I may drop him and further injure him or have him get away from me I tried to set him down gently without letting go. He was determined to get away and put up quite a struggle.

As a last resort to not let go of him while trying to get my car door open I got a hold of his right rear ankle and held on tight.

Mind you I am dressed up and on my way to work.

After a brief struggle I got the deer through the side door of my jeep Cherokee where he immediately jumped into the back.

As I drove to work with the deer in my car, I called my favorite radio station to find out where I could take the deer for medical attention.

What I found was even though getting the deer into my car on my own was a challenge, finding someone qualified to provide medical care and a safe environment for this guy might be even more challenging!

We were and still are in a state of emergency with the fires in the state and the individual who volunteers for wildlife rescue who would normally take this type of animal had lost their property to the
fires!

I received a call from an individual with the game and fish department who said that if the deer could walk away from an incident, the great -- and if not, it would be destroyed.... not an option as far as I was concerned.

After hearing wildlife rescue couldn't help I left my phone number and asked them to call if they came up with a solution.

I then tried calling the radio station again. The phone just rang and rang. I checked the time and much to my dismay it was 10 a.m, the time the morning DJ crew was due to leave for the day! I had to resort to Plan B and call another local station for help.

After speaking to them and receiving suggestions of The Helen Woodward Center which had been evacuated on Monday; Wildlife Rescue which I knew already couldn't help me; and Oceanside Animal Shelter. I decided Oceanside was my only hope for help.

As I began driving to Oceanside I received a phone call from the San Diego Wildlife Rescue people who said a wonderful vet by the name of Dr. Todd Cecil at the Pet Emergency & Specialty Center in La Mesa would be willing to take the deer and arrangements had been made for care after Dr. Cecil provided care.

All I needed to do was drive to La Mesa to drop the deer off.

Sure enough, the staff at the Specialty Center was expecting us when I arrived. Dr. Cecil came out to my vehicle to receive the deer.

I think he was surprised to find the deer wasn't "Bambi" the little tiny deer with white spots. He was in fact 40-50 pounds and able to stand on his own and looked pretty good considering his ordeal.

Dr. Cecil carried the deer into the facility; I signed a release form and asked for an update call later in the day -- after thanking Dr. Cecil for his generosity.

I did in fact receive a call from him to let me know a volunteer from
Project Wildlife had picked up the deer and he was on his way to Malibu for rehab.

A happy ending for this deer during a time of disaster and sad stories.



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Postscript: In a phone call today, Dr. Todd Cecil said that the deer was a mule deer, probably less than one year old. It is “highly unusual” for a deer to remain so docile when handled by a human.

When Dr. Cecil came out to retrieve the animal from the Jeep, “the little deer was just lying down, not responsive.” The veterinarian said the deer had small abrasions, dehydration and some head trauma. On the plus side, it stood up on its own legs.

After some treatment for dehydration the deer regained some of its spunkiness “and I have the bruises to prove it,” said Dr. Cecil with a chuckle.

Normally the deer would have been sent to the local Project Wildlife deer recovery facility, in East County. “Unfortunately it was burned down in the fires,” he said.

Dr,Cecil said he has not heard anything since the deer was sent to the Malibu recovery center but he feels optimistic about its chances for recovery.


-- Bob Hawkins for SignOnSanDiego.com

4 comments:

ddt said...

classic gov response

you on the other hand will be rewarded for your efforts

D Teed

Anonymous said...

i am an animal lover, i would have done the same... than you so much for your help

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful person you are! :)

Unknown said...

NIce work, the deer saw a kind person in you.