An Oklahoma police officer helped transport a loose donkey to safety Tuesday morning by coaxing the animal into his patrol car.

Officer Kyle Canaan of the Norman Police Department responded to a call regarding the donkey around 8 a.m. Canaan took the animal to a nearby home for safekeeping until its owner could be located.

The donkey was pictured in a Norman police cruiser on the department’s Facebook page Tuesday, garnering more than 5,000 shares and 6,000 likes on the social media platform, as well as 800 comments.

In situations like this, Canaan said officers see if they can help before they call animal control. When he arrived on scene, he said a woman had the animal by her car.

“She said, ‘I don’t know whose donkey this is, but it’s friendly,” Canaan said.

The woman told the officer the animal could stay on her land, which was a few blocks away, until the owner was found.

“The speed limit though there is 50 mph. If a car were to hit it, it probably would be a pretty bad accident,” Canaan said.

The donkey wouldn’t fit in the woman’s car, so Canaan decided to try to fit it in his police cruiser. Persuading the animal with food seemed to work at first, as he sprinkled some on the backseat, but ultimately it came down to pushing and pulling.

“I was pulling from one side and the lady was pushing from the other,” Canaan said.

Eventually the animal made it into the back of the police cruiser, without being arrested, and was transported safely.

“It was really docile. It wasn’t kicking or making noises,” Canaan said.

For the officer, it was just another problem he had to solve while on the job using the tools and resources he had available to keep the public safe.

Bruha writes for The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript