Police in Gilbert, Arizona, gave an emu a ride to an animal rescue after residents pulled the flightless bird from a town canal last month.

The unusual call came on September 13, just before 8:45am. Dispatchers received reports of a large bird stranded in the canal west of Lindsay Road. By the time officers arrived, several residents had already pulled the soaked emu from the water, FOX 10 reported.

Loading the bird into a patrol vehicle proved harder than the rescue. Body-camera footage showed officers coaxing the reluctant emu, which flapped its wings before finally being lifted in. The department posted the video to the 90s hit “If I Had $1,000,000” by the Barenaked Ladies, a nod to the song’s emu lyric.

Officers transported the bird to Crystal’s Critter Haven, a local East Valley animal rescue, where it is recovering. Police spokesperson Brenda Carrasco praised the quick-thinking residents.

One officer was fresh out of the police academy and in his first week on the road. “An emu in a Gilbert canal was not on our officers’ bingo card,” the department wrote.