When a peacock's in trouble, who do you call? The dog warden

SANDUSKY — Just to be clear, Barb Knapp is not Erie County's peacock warden or deer warden. She's the county dog warden.But if an animal of any kind is in trouble in Erie County, Knapp gets the call.Over the last few days, she and her staff dealt with a peacock trapped at a water tower, a baby deer trapped behind a Sandusky business and a dog that jumped in the lake.She didn't rescue the young fox with its head caught in a trap — Sheriff Paul Sigsworth took care of it — but she provided advice and support.It's been a crazy last few days, Knapp said.The peacock call came in last week."A gentleman called and said there was a peacock at the Boos Road water tower," Knapp said. The water tower is in Huron Township, near the BGSU Firelands campus.The dog pound was told the peacock had stuck his head in the fence around the water tower and that its feathers kept the bird from pulling away.Knapp called Erie County's water department and offered to help with the peacock, but Erie County water worker Chuck Gremling took care of it.Gremling opened the gate to help the bird, which by then had gotten inside the fence."I shooed him out the gate and he went across the street," he said.The dog warden's office often handles dogs on dry land, but on Friday, it had to deal with a dog in Lake Erie.A Sandusky police officer, Jacob Icsman, tried to catch a loose grey Shih Tzu in the Battery Park area, not far from the police station and close to the shore."Instead of letting the officer catch it, it jumped in. We got the call it was in the water. My people took off really fast with a net," Knapp said.Icsman was willing to jump into the lake to rescue the dog, but Knapp's two deputy dog wardens, Shelly Graves and Andria Cogar, used treats to lure the dog to shore."He came to the shoreline enough for us to grab him," Knapp said.The dog had a license tag and was returned to its owner.Knapp's deer rescue adventure occurred Wednesday when she was called out to help a fawn trapped behind the fence at Fred's Trading Post, 2016 Milan Road near Butler Road."He was caught in some fencing area right behind their building," Knapp said.The deer was freed, and when the fence opened up, it ran out into the woods, presumably to find its mother.Knapp was at the Register late Thursday morning to film a dog adoption video. Before she could begin, her cell phone rang. It was Sigsworth asking for help with a young red fox with a trap caught on its head.Wanda Thomas, who lives on Clary Road in Birmingham, called the sheriff's office after she went to see what her dog was barking it and found the fox."I just couldn't stand to see it suffer," Thomas said. Deputy Brett Szakats took the call but Sigsworth was nearby, so the sheriff went to help.While the deputy attempted to hold the fox still with a snare, the sheriff used bolt cutters to remove the trap.The fox seemed to be OK, Sigsworth said, so the law enforcement officers freed it."It was trying to bite," the sheriff said. "It was feisty with us. That's a good sign."Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth and deputy Brett Szakats rescue a red fox kit stuck in a trap on Clary Road in Birmingham on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018.