May 20 (UPI) — An escaped cow was captured after a pursuit through the city of Utica, N.Y., involving sheriff’s deputies, police, drone operators and cattle wranglers on horseback.
Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol said the approximately 1,250-1,500-pound cow escaped from a trailer in West Utica when its owner opened it to unload another bovine on Tuesday.
The cow was spotted entering a wooded area behind the Red Roof Inn near Route 790 and Route 49, prompting a response by deputies, Utica Police Department, New York State Police and the New York State Department of Transportation.
A deputy used a thermal drone to keep tabs on the cow as officials formulated a capture plan.
A pair of professional cattle wranglers were summoned to the scene and they used dogs to herd the cow into an open area where it could be ensnared with a lasso.
The fugitive heifer was safely returned to the trailer for transport back to its pasture. The cow’s owner compensated the wranglers for their assistance.
“We’re just grateful that it came to a successful end; last thing we wanted to do is have this cow run out into the road, colliding with a car moving at a high rate of speed,” Maciol toild WKTV. “We only know what the outcome of that is; this cow’s probably about 1,250 pounds, somewhere in that neighborhood.”
The cow’s owner compensated the wranglers for their assistance.
