Neighbors work together to free deer from plastic jug stuck on its head

OHIO TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A deer with a plastic jug stuck on its head spotted in the woods in Ohio Township has been set free after weeks of turmoil.

>> Deer with container stuck on its head spotted in Pittsburgh area

“It ended as well as it could’ve today,” said Bill Sawyer, who initially spotted the deer on Feb. 22 on a game camera outside his home.

“I caught it on the game cam. I thought it was an orb. I couldn’t figure out what it was,” Sawyer said.

It turned out to be a deer with a large jug stuck on its head.

“It couldn’t eat, without a doubt. There was no way for it to eat, there was no way for it to get water,” Sawyer said.

He started posting photos and videos of the deer on Facebook, affectionately naming it “Jughead.”

Soon, his neighbors started spotting Jughead as well.

Many of them rallied together, determined to help the poor creature.

“We all worked together,” Sawyer said. “Twenty people around here worked together to give it a chance.”

According to Sawyer, state game wardens came to the woods near his home four times over the last three weeks to help.

But no one was able to catch the deer.

Until Wednesday morning, when Lisa and Matt Mertz became the deer’s saviors.

“We went outside at like 7:30 and by 8:20 we had spotted the deer and Lisa said, ‘Matt, I’ve got the deer,’ and I ran over and she approached it from the front and kind of snuck up behind it from the back,” Matt said.

“He was doing a slow trot and I held on to the container just so I could get some sort of grip onto him,” Lisa described. “Then, I was able to turn my body and secure him safely until Matt was able to hold him from behind and we were able to get the container off his head.”

The couple is grateful for this story’s happy ending.

“We’re huge animal lovers and you could just tell, the look on its face, that it was starting to wear down and get a lot weaker. I’m not sure if it would’ve survived another day, so it was all in God’s hands to handle it and we were able to figure it out,” Lisa said.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Matt added. “We wanted to do everything we could and we’re fortunate.”

Now, neighbors are hoping to once again see the freed deer to make sure it’s doing okay.

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