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N.J. cop delivers fawn in roadside C-section on deer killed by car

Posted at 1:13 PM, May 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-21 15:13:58-04

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A New Jersey police officer’s quick action may have saved a baby deer’s life Sunday as its mother lay dead after being struck by a car, according to a Facebook post by his department.

The Washington Township Police Department posted a photo of Officer Jim Vernon holding the fawn moments after performing an emergency c-section on baby’s deceased mother. The roadside operation happened around 3:30 a.m., after an animal control official noticed there was movement inside the deer.

One of two fawn survived and was taken into the care of animal control.

Vernon and the animal control official, Robert Lagonera, reunited later that day for another animal rescue, according to the Facebook post.

The pair were both dispatched to retrieve a loose horse who had wandered away from its paddock.

"After some finagling we got it back inside," Lagonera wrote in the Facebook post. "Now I’m running around getting the premature fawn the care it needs. No amount of coffee is too much today."