From her office in the Niagara Police Department, Chief Angela Moreau spotted the doe about 9 a.m., which she first mistook for a child at play.

After Moreau recognized it was a struggling deer, she and Officer Heather Romback rushed to check on the animal.

“You could tell it was exhausted,” Moreau said. “It had been there a while.”

With help from public works employees John Henrichs and J.J. Coppens, Moreau and Romback subdued the deer, covered its eyes with a jacket and cut netting from the deer’s neck, torso, legs, even between its hooves. The process took about 15 minutes, Moreau said.

NIAGARA POLICE CHIEF Angela Moreau and Officer Heather Romback work to free a deer that became ensnared in a soccer goal net. (Audrey Fredrick photo)

After the net was removed, the deer stood up with some effort before running away, Moreau said.

Niagara Public Works employees John Henrichs, left, and J.J. Coppens, right, work with Niagara Police Officer Heather Romback, center, to free a deer that became entangled in a soccer goal net at a city park in Niagara, Wis. (Audrey Fredrick photo)

THE DEER RUNS free after being untangled from a soccer goal net by city employees Wednesday in Niagara, Wis. (Audrey Fredrick photo)