Cow Destined for Slaughter Makes Mad Dash for Freedom
By: CNN News
Updated: April 12, 2012
It's as if the cow looked around and said, "It's now or never."
Thinking no one would notice a missing 800-pound bovine, he took off and turned Paterson, N.J., into the Wild West.
"The cow was unbelievable," said Chief John De Cando with Paterson Animal Control. "He weighed about 800 pounds. It was running back and forth up and down River Street. He crossed Presidential Boulevard and stopped at the new basketball courts they have there -- I guess he wanted to shoot a couple hoops."
At one point, as police were closing in, the cow tried to make a break for it and ended up denting a police car.
According to Douglas Clark, a Paterson resident, "There were five police cars to the right, five police cars to the left, and right in the middle was this 800-pound cow. He looked both ways and all of a sudden booked."
Finally cornering him against a fire hydrant, animal control officers were able to tranquilize him.
The slaughterhouse brought a truck to take him back, but the owner decided to reward the wayward animal for his bravery and spare him. He will spend the rest of his now-much-longer life at a sanctuary.
Thinking no one would notice a missing 800-pound bovine, he took off and turned Paterson, N.J., into the Wild West.
"The cow was unbelievable," said Chief John De Cando with Paterson Animal Control. "He weighed about 800 pounds. It was running back and forth up and down River Street. He crossed Presidential Boulevard and stopped at the new basketball courts they have there -- I guess he wanted to shoot a couple hoops."
At one point, as police were closing in, the cow tried to make a break for it and ended up denting a police car.
According to Douglas Clark, a Paterson resident, "There were five police cars to the right, five police cars to the left, and right in the middle was this 800-pound cow. He looked both ways and all of a sudden booked."
Finally cornering him against a fire hydrant, animal control officers were able to tranquilize him.
The slaughterhouse brought a truck to take him back, but the owner decided to reward the wayward animal for his bravery and spare him. He will spend the rest of his now-much-longer life at a sanctuary.
