Missing emu returned home by local deputy

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — One deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department can now add emu-wrangler to her list of accomplishments.

Richland County Deputy Shannon Huffman was on patrol last Wednesday when she had a unique encounter.

“We were parked like on Eastover Road, and while we were parked there, I saw an emu. And I was like….Do do…you see the emu?!” says Deputy Huffman.

Deputy Huffman posted about the encounter on her Facebook page. By the next day, community members got her in touch with the emu’s owner, Samantha Gray.

Gray had also posted on Facebook about her missing pet emu, named Winnie. “So (Deputy Huffman) saw the post and contacted me and she’s like I’ve got eyes on your emu! I’m gonna keep tracking her. And then the following day she was like Samantha we’re gonna catch your emu today and bring her home. And I was like yes!”

When Winnie was spotted again last Friday, Deputy Huffman was determined to get her home. She enticed Winnie with water, and then made her move. “They’re really powerful birds, so this emu is 60-70 pounds, I had to guess. So I got behind it and I kind of football tackled it and I wrapped my arms around it and I picked it up,” says Deputy Huffman.

With the help of Lieutenant Woodrow Medlin, Winnie was placed safely in the back of their truck before taking her home.

“I’m sure she was scared, you know she is a baby, she had been gone for a long time and now she’s got all her favorite snacks and plenty of water,” says Gray.

Deputy Huffman says the community worked together to make sure 7-month-old Winnie got home safely.

“The fact that we have this Facebook, we have social media, and we have all these connections…we as law enforcement…we do follow those. And our goal is to help the public. So when I realized the emu I saw was missing, I wanted to bring it back to the family. I wanted to be able to go to the community and be able to say hey I’m here, it’s not your everyday call, what can I do to help?” says Deputy Huffman.

“It’s amazing how the entire community was just on board with trying to get her home and contacting me and, you know, helping out with feeding her and giving her water. And it was just really cool how everybody came together to help me get her back home,” says Gray.

“It’s kind of a joke now, they call me Deputy Emu-Wrangler. At your service,” says Deputy Huffman.

And as far as Winnie’s future?

“Yea I think next I’m gonna have to put her on TikTok so she can go viral!” says Gray.