ATTLEBORO - Kerri Goyette went outside Friday morning to enjoy her coffee, when she noticed her next door neighbor had a new dog in her backyard.

On closer inspection, Goyette realized the animal was not a dog, but a deer fawn.

The animal was trapped in the yard and had lost its mother. It was ramming into a fence trying to escape, causing injuries to its mouth and eye.

Goyette considered releasing it to avoid further injury, but she was afraid it would get hit by a car when it dashed around the busy Holman Street neighborhood near the city's downtown.

"I didn't want it to die or get hit by a car," she said. She called the police and the city animal control officer for help.

Animal Control Officer Kathy Pereira said she believed the fawn drifted into the yard from a nearby wooded area off Eddy Street and got confused.

"With all the building and everything, it is bringing more deer out," she said.

The state environmental police were called as a small group of neighbors stood guard.

"I've never seen a deer in this area," said Sam McAdams of Holman Street. "It's pretty amazing. I didn't know this place had deer."

But, Stephen Weidner of Eddy Street said there actually are a lot of deer living in the woods behind his house. He said they come out in large numbers at sundown.

When the environmental police arrived, the officer said the fawn was too small to tranquilize.

Instead, workers from the city park department came to catch the deer and release it in the woods.

As they entered the yard, the fawn once again tried to slam through the wooden gate. It then tried to bound away from the men, but worker TJ Mello caught it in midair around the neck and body.

Pereira covered its head with a blanket as the animal let out several loud bleats. The men carried it off and released it in the woods.

"I knew TJ would get him. Nothing gets by TJ," Park Superintendent Sonny Almeida said, explaining that Mello is expert at catching animals at Capron Park Zoo.