Stefanie Leary, operations manager at Hillside Animal Sanctuary, said no-one had any idea how the animal got into the shop.
“It is unusual to find a muntjac in Norwich city, maybe she just wandered in there and got a bit panicked, and when they get panicked, they run,” she said.
“With so many roads being built, like the Northern Distributor Road, for example, how much of the natural area has been destroyed, and it’s taking over all their habitat, and where else have they got to go? There is less rural areas… there’s hundreds of housing being built on their homes.”
She said the sanctuary has about 100 rescued deer in its care and has recently purchased woodland to be used for the deer and wild deer.
“Lucy will stay at the sanctuary with us because, being a muntjac, we are not allowed to release her because she is classed as an invasive species — she’s a very lucky little deer.”