NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A young bull ran the streets of Newark, N.J. all night until the local Humane Society managed to corner it Friday morning. The bull was first spotted at 10 p.m. Thursday, running up and down an industrial street leading to Newark's heavily populated downtown. Police shooed onlookers away and blocked off streets to keep vehicles away from the animal, which managed to elude its pursuers until Friday morning.
The teenaged bull appeared to have escaped from a freight train headed toward a slaughterhouse. The 3-year-old mixed breed bull had an auction tag affixed to his back, indicating he was not far from The Final Roundup.
Once the bull was lassoed and corralled inside a parking lot on South Street, the fence was closed and Humane Society of Newark representatives fed the bull some hay and water until assistance arrived to safely remove the bull from the urban environment.
Animal control officers have subdued the 600 lb. animal. 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg was on the scene and took the picture to the right, which shows the bull getting sleepy from a tranquilizer.
The animal was jabbed with the tranquilizer on a long stick, and eventually drifted off to sleep as morning rush-hour traffic snarled and children snapped pictures with their cell phone cameras from the windows of passing school buses.
The bull paced for a while, mooing repeatedly. Then its legs grew wobbly, and its front two legs gave way. It struggled to its feet again for a brief moment, then settled down on the ground with all four legs tucked underneath it. Finally, it keeled over on its side, its breath coming out of its mouth and nostrils in small puffs of steam in the chilly morning air.
Denton Infield, Manager of the Humane Society of Newark, said, "We've been trying to catch the thing since 10 o'clock last night. He was running rampant in the streets and along the railway lines."
"He was jumping over air conditioning units and over small fences," Infield said. "He was a little wild."
"He's asleep now," said Infield, as he rubbed the animal's flank.
Lassoing a wild bull was child's play for Infield. "Back home in South Africa, this is quite common," he said. "A lot of our cattle are transported by truck, and a lot of times the truck will turn over and there's cattle all over the place."
Sandberg asked Infield if there was any point where humans were endangered. "No," replied Infield, " We had a lot of backup from local police, they secured the area so nobody was in danger at any time."
Infield added, "He's not really friendly, he doesn't seem to know humans at all, so he's probably a slaughter animal. It's very strange, it's the first time I've seen one in Newark."
Actually it was the second time in as many years that wayward cattle wandered around Newark's streets. In May 2004, a steer escaped from a slaughterhouse and was eventually taken to a farm sanctuary in upstate New York.
Authorities called in a trailer from Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township, a popular refuge for abused or unwanted animals that is operated by the Humane Societies. The bull was to be loaded on board the truck and taken to the zoo, where it was to live out the rest of its life, Infield said.
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Animal control officers have subdued the 600 lb. animal. 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg was on the scene and took the picture to the right, which shows the bull getting sleepy from a tranquilizer.
