Paul and Martha Podolski, of 131 Jenney Lane, called the fire department shortly after 11 a.m. , on Jan. 26, when they saw a deer stuck in the icy water behind their home.
“He (Paul) went out to his car to leave to his hockey game. He heard a splash in the water and saw a deer stuck,” Martha Podolski told the Dedham Transcript on Monday, Jan. 28.
Deputy Fire Chief James Neilan said firemen used a rescue sled to retrieve the deer from the water – a process that took about three hours.
“It was probably 17 degrees out and they were up to the neck in water,” Podolski said. “I was really worried when the firemen were in the water.”
After retrieving the deer from the water, firefighters took the animal to the basement of Podolski’s brother’s home, 129 Jenney Lane, and placed the deer near a woodstove for about 45 minutes.
“We had a big comforter over him and (firemen) were rubbing his fur,” Podolski said. “The deer was definitely improving, but he wasn’t able to get up on his own.”
The deer was taken to the Dedham branch of the Animal Rescue League of Boston on Saturday afternoon, but it did not survive.
“He ended up going into shock,” Neilan said. “Obviously with this cold weather, his body just didn’t survive.”
Animal Rescue League and Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife assisted with the rescue.
Martha Podolski and her brother Mike Newman went to the Dedham Animal Rescue League Sunday morning to check on the deer, she said.
“I did think he was going to survive because he improved so much when he was in the basement,” Podolski said. “I thought they would be able to get him warmed and that he would survive.”
[Even though the deer died, at least they didn't let it continue to suffer. Unlike Colorado wildlife officials who refused to help a stranded deer: "Officials refuse to help stranded deer"]
(The Dedham Transcript - Jan 28, 2013)
