A deer tries in vain to extricate itself after falling through the ice in Arva, Ontario on Sunday, March 3, 2013. (DEREK RUTTAN/ QMI AGENCY)

LONDON, ONT. - Ontario provincial police had no choice but to shoot a deer that fell through thin ice north of London on Sunday and couldn't be safely rescued, police said.

"We did everything we could to try and save the deer," Middlesex OPP Const. Kevin Howe said.

Killing the animal was "a last resort" after it struggled in ice and frigid water for about an hour.

A resident of Arva, Ont., northwest of London, called police at about 12:30 p.m. Sunday to say a deer trying to cross the Mill Pond at Medway Creek had fallen through the thin ice.