Only in Toronto: deer drugged and tasered in downtown

I should start a regular section under the headline "Only in Toronto". It just seems that every week there's something wacky about the town we live in.

On Tuesday morning a deer took a stroll through the downtown. It was first spotted at Union Station (the main train station), and was finally cordoned off by the police and animal services a little later on a grassy patch just behind the City Hall. The standoff took 5 hours, even ETF was called (that's Emergency Task Force, the super-cops who usually deal with extremely dangerous and armed criminals). Someone counted 15 police cruisers at the scene at some point. The deer, meanwhile, laid at the grass, snacking on the leaves of the nearby bush. Allegedly, the police was waiting until the end of rush hour, in case their action provoked the deer to jump on the street. I think the cops had more troubles keeping the spectators with the cell phone cameras away from the animal. Finally, the time had come for the brave joint police and Toronto Zoo forces to move in. The cops spread the nets and with help from the zoo veterinarian the deer was shot with a tranquilizer dart. It then jumped and ran into a group of policemen, and was promptly tasered. It collapsed to the ground. The cops jumped on the poor Bambi, covered it with nets and took it away. It was checked by the zoo's vets and released into a park on the outskirts.

So many things are bizarre about this - from the wacky deer not bothered by humans or cars, to the laughable overreaction by the police. But, it gives us residents the confidence that, if ever a gang of terrorist deer invades Toronto, they'll be dealt with decisively: they'll be drugged and tasered. We practised that with immigrants!