Moo-dini: Cow's life spared after slaughterhouse escape

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

An 800-pound cow broke out of a slaughterhouse in northern New Jersey, swam across a river and ran through city streets, evading police and animal control officers in an hour-long scene out of ?Dodge City? that ended with him getting a reprieve from death, an official said Wednesday.

The black-and-white bovine escaped from the slaughterhouse Tuesday night and went?careening through the streets of Paterson, said the city?s chief animal control officer, John DeCando.

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?It was unbelievable. It was like ?Dodge City,?? he told msnbc.com.

On his escape route, the animal came across basketball courts, where he ?stopped for a minute,? then he jumped into the Passaic River and swam across to the other side, DeCando said.

?You had to see the spectators, people were rooting for the cow,? he said.

As police and animal control attempted to corral him, the cow managed to escape and took off once more. At one point, he ran into a police car, but no one was injured in the escapade, DeCando said.

Finally, DeCando managed to tranquilize him, and within four minutes the animal was asleep and snoring like a ?newborn.?

It's not clear how the cow got out, but DeCando said he figured the bovine knew what was in store for him.

But instead, the cow's ?long run, long haul? has a ?happy ending,? DeCando said.

?The owner of the slaughterhouse guaranteed me, and also the officers, that that cow deserves to live and yes, he does. So the cow is going to a farm. He?ll live out the rest of his life,? he said.

With nearly four decades on the job, this isn't the first time DeCando has had to deal with a large animal getting loose.

DeCando said his team?has in the past confronted?a bull who moved police cars like they were ?toys? and an elephant who escaped from the circus.

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