A group of men at a Rhode Island harbor hauled a struggling deer up onto a boat and gave it a ride to shore.
Geordie Shaver said he was near the Newport Harbor’s Ann Street Pier on Tuesday when he spotted the deer in the water.
“One of the managers looked over and said there’s something in the door water swimming by,” Shaver told WJAR-TV. “It looked like a dog, and then we realized it was a deer.”
Shaver and another witness, Michael Farber, set off in a boat when they saw the deer head toward a dangerous area.
“We jumped in the boat to whip over there and see if we could help it, because he wasn’t going to do well getting through all of these marinas,” Shaver said. “He’s either going to get hit or drown.”
The men soon were joined by Kevin Quinn, who had been working nearby when he spotted the scene, and the trio hauled the struggling deer into the boat.
“We put it in the boat, calmed it down and just held on for dear life until we got to the beach,” Farber said.
The group took the deer to Fort Adams and released it on the shore. The deer was last seen running into the woods.
“I’m a hunter myself,” Farber said. “But to be on other side, to be able to save it and that feeling of joy and relief to see not any more harm come to it — let’s say it was a great feeling.”