A Washington Township police officer made an unusual animal rescue last week while out on a call.

Officer Jim Vernon says that he went out to a call around 3 a.m. Friday after getting a call that a driver had struck and killed a deer on Route 31. Officer Vernon says that he found the deer and then noticed something strange.

“When I walked up to the deer, I noticed some movement in the belly area,” he says.

It is currently birthing season for deer and Vernon says that he knew that there was a fawn inside the mother. The officer sprang into action and performed a C-section on the side of the road. He was soon joined by Robert Lagonera, the township’s animal control officer.

“I immediately started drying it off. I started rubbing the chest. I was actually doing that while driving back to my house,” Lagonera says.

The animal officer says that after treating the deer at his home, he took it to the Animal Clinic of Morris Plains.

“We got it right away and started treatment, it really responded beautifully,” says Dr. Paul Dedlacek.

The fawn is now in the care of the Antler Ridge Wildlife Sanctuary where it will mingle with other deer fawns.

“We make little herds and then we release them back out to the wild,” says Kelly Simonetti.

The baby will spend the summer getting stronger at the sanctuary and will then be released into the wild in August.

The fawn did have a twin sibling that couldn’t be saved.