The Washington County Sheriff’s Office captured an escaped emu in the Vincent area Wednesday night. (Photo Provided)
VINCENT — The Washington County Sheriff’s Office caught an escaped emu Wednesday in the Vincent area.
“(The) Washington County Sheriff’s Office has located an Emu in the 600 (block of ) McGill Road, Vincent,” said a media release asking anyone who knew the owner of the bird to contact the office.
The emu was spotted off Ohio 339 and a deputy went out and located the bird, according to Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mark Warden. Deputies corralled the emu on someone’s property, and it took about two hours to find the owners, he said.
The emu did not want to get caught but it didn’t attack anyone either, according to Warden.
“We had a hard time at the very beginning trying to find somebody to pick it up,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office was thinking outside the box trying to figure out how to house the bird and dispatchers at the office posted about it on social media to find the owners, according to Warden, who praised dispatchers’ efforts.
“The owner of the emu called us and picked it up,” he said.
The bird got out by accident and there has been no history of it escaping before, according to Warden.
He said this is the first time in his career he has seen an escaped emu.
“I was out working and heard the radio traffic,” Warden said. “It was somewhat comical to be honest with you.”
The Sheriff’s Office posted around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night on its Facebook page that the bird had been returned to its home safely.
Warden did not share the identity of the emu owner.
This is not the first time there has been an escaped emu in the Mid-Ohio Valley. In April 2014, An emu escaped and was caught by the Wood County Sheriff’s Office by the Crossroads Church in Waverly on Old St. Marys Pike.
Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com
