One bovine is on the mooooove.
Most people probably don't think of Canarsie as cattle country. But a slaughterhouse escapee set off a full-scale urban round-up in the Brooklyn neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.
The calf bolted from a nearby slaughterhouse, and spent the middle of the day dodging cars and anyone who tried chasing it in a wild scene of udder chaos that unfolded near East 95th Street and Avenue L.
Everybody just came out of the store and tried to herd it into a corner," said Vincent Fonana, the manager of Original Pizza. "But she was feisty, she put up a fight."
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
Cellphone video shows staff from Saba Live Poultry trying to grab the calf, joined by neighbors and employees from the nearby pizza shop.
"We didn’t want her to get hit by a car and nobody to get hurt. Never seen that before in my life," said Fontana.
The black calf continued its race for freedom, evading everyone who approached. After several minutes out on the loose, the cow was caught at Avenue M and East 95th Street.
U.S. & World
Management at the slaughterhouse on Rockaway Avenue wouldn't go on camera, but an employee told NBC New York that the calf slipped a truck and ran for about a mile.
"People start to identify with that one animal. They see the desperation in the animal’s face when they are fighting for their lives," said Mike Stura, the president and founder of Skylands Animal Sanctuary, which provides care and shelter to a number of cows.
Stura offered to take in the calf, believing the calf should get amnesty after the escape. But he said he was turned down.
"That animal is fighting for her life and they know it," said Stura. "You can feel the fear in the air."
Neighbors said they hoped the cow's life would be spared. Saba Live Poultry said the animal was not hurt during the ordeal, and may end up going back to her original farm in Pennsylvania.
