Queens: Cow Runs Loose After Slaughterhouse Escape But Is Recaptured

A cow that escaped from a slaughterhouse in the Queens borough of New York City ran loose through the streets for over an hour Tuesday morning before being recaptured by police.

The bull had escaped from a slaughterhouse on Jamaica Avenue. A butcher there told CBS New York that a large group of cattle was being moved and that one cow may have been scared by a loud noise and escaped through the fencing.

A large number of law enforcement personnel responded to the bull’s escape, and police chased it up and down streets in South Jamaica and South Ozone Park before tranquilizing and capturing it in a backyard at Marsden and Smith Streets, according to the New York Daily News.

Camera footage from an NBC News helicopter showed the bull dodging a police officer and ducking under yellow caution tape before it was captured.

Cows apparently escape from area slaughterhouses a few times a year, and one such recent escape led to former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart taking the bull to his animal sanctuary. The fate of Tuesday’s escaped bull was not immediately known.

Residents in the area were shocked to see the cow on their streets, CBS reported.

“It was the running of the bulls today from what I understand,” resident Felicia Evans said. “It was all over there by the Baisley Housing.”

Even after being hit by several tranquilizer darts, the cow continued to elude police until about 12:30 p.m., when it was cornered in a resident’s backyard and captured, NBC reported.

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