Deer smashes through Halifax café

A young male deer crashed through a window of a busy coffee shop in downtown Halifax on Monday morning, sending frightened customers running to the kitchen and bathrooms.

The buck burst through the window at the Uncommon Grounds on South Park Street just before 9 a.m.

Cathy Conrad said the confused animal jumped on tables and bumped into customers as it thrashed about the shop.

"There was another customer and we were hugging each other. It was right in front of us. I don't know how it didn't get its blood on us," she told CBC News.

"Then it jumped on the counter. It was just chaos. It was insane."

Conrad locked herself in the bathroom and called 911.

Laura Wojcik was working in the back office when she heard the first crash.

"I came out and people were running around screaming. I saw an animal running around, I thought it was maybe a dog," she said Monday.

"We just asked people to get out and we watched it trying to run around and get out of the store."

Conrad said the buck was in the shop for about five minutes. It tried to get out through the kitchen, then smashed through another window and ran down the street.

She said it's surprising that nobody was hurt.

The injured animal ran to a construction site on the Saint Mary's University campus. Workers there told CBC News that it had cuts on its back, belly and nose.

Wildlife staff with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources tranquilized the animal and took it away to assess its injuries. The deer was later given an antidote for the tranquilizer and released into the woods where it woke up, stood up and walked away, according to DNR officials.

This is the second time in less than a month that a deer has run through city streets.

On May 31, a deer made its way from downtown to the Dalhousie University campus in the city's south end. It was not hurt.