posted December 20, 2011 10:48 PM            

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Tuesday December 20, 2011 9:20 PM
UPDATED: Tuesday December 20, 2011 9:22 PM

NORTON, Ohio - A reindeer walking down a busy road in Norton kept 911 dispatchers busy on Sunday.

Before noon, residents started calling about a reindeer on State Route 21 south, near State Route 585.

"I'd like to report a wild animal. It's not a deer. It looks like a very small reindeer," one caller said.

"I'm on 21 south between 585 and Eastern Road and there is an animal, it's a deer, it looks like a reindeer because it has a collar on it. And it's walking down the middle of 21," another caller said.

Eventually, dispatchers just started to answer the phone asking if people were calling about the raindeer.

According to the recording 911 calls, an off-duty fireman stopped to help the animal, ONN's affiliate WEWS reported.

Norton Officer Kevin Starling used the deer's harness to lead it to safety.

The reindeer, which is named "Cupid," had a broken antler and road rash, but the injuries appeared to be minor.

"She was just walking. She wasn't running. She didn't appear to be badly injured. She wasn't limping or anything, sort of walking down the road like she knew where she was going," Starling said.

Authorities said the reindeer was in a truck on its way to a party in Beachwood when the truck hit a bump, causing the trailer's doors to open just long enough for the animal to fall out.

The juvenile deer was returned to Stump Hill Farm in Massillon.

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©2011 by By ONN. WEWS-TV in Cleveland contributed to this report.. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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