Elk freed after deputy uses Taser
Posted: Friday, September 11, 2009
A creative Linn County Sheriff's deputy saved an elk's life Thursday by using a Taser to subdue it while another officer freed it from barbed wire fencing.
The alternative was putting it down.
At about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, dispatch received a call from a man saying a bull elk was tangled in the fencing on his property on Priceboro Drive near Harrisburg.
The man told dispatchers the elk was in distress and needed attention immediately.
An Oregon State Police fish and game trooper traveled to the scene, as did a sheriff's deputy.
The elk's antlers were wrapped in the wire and its head was pinned in place but it was otherwise uninjured.
The officers were advised by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife that a tranquilizer could be sent out, but it would be several hours and ODFW would have to cut the animal's antlers after it was drugged.
Thinking quickly, Deputy Mike Rossiter turned his Taser sideways so that the prongs would land on opposite ends of the elk's body and deployed it for 25 seconds as Trooper Kirk Burkholder freed the animal.
"With a Taser, as soon as it's over, it's over - unlike a tranquilizer that takes time to wear off and has some side effects," said Undersheriff Bruce Riley.
Riley said he was told the elk just "stood back up and left."
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