Animal control officials were forced to euthanize an injured deer Monday after it crashed through the window of a Tim Hortons in Kitchener, Ont., and sustained serious injuries.
Gary Boes, of the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society, said the doe was struck by a vehicle before it dove through the window and into the restaurant at 1000 Victoria St. N. just before noon Monday.
Boes said the deer was severely injured in the initial collision with the vehicle in front of the store before it sustained severe lacerations from the broken window.
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“The deer was in pretty bad shape,” he said, adding that the deer may have been confused due to the reflection of a nearby forest in the window.
“It went right through the glass of the Tim Hortons.”
Boes added that the window was thick enough to do “serious damage” to the deer’s neck and animal control officers held it down until Boes could humanely euthanize it at the scene.
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“There was nothing else that anybody could have done,” he said, adding that the deer was found bleeding heavily.
“I have a real love of wildlife but with something like that when you look at them and see how bad they are, there’s nobody that could have helped that deer.
“At least it’s not going to be suffering.”
A spokesperson for Tim Hortons said they are “saddened by the unfortunate incident” and noted all customers and staff at the location were safe.
“Team members at the location acted immediately to shut down restaurant operations and called animal services for assistance,” the statement read.
“The restaurant has since been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and is now open for business.”