Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Hey, bull, the big run's in Pamplona, not Newark

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 4, 2006

NEWARK, N.J. - It took an urban cowboy from the farms of South Africa to corral and lasso a 600-pound bull running loose Friday in the streets of New Jersey's largest city.

For Denton Infield, now an animal control officer, rounding up wayward cattle was second nature, even if the scene was not.

Officers chased the bull for 10 hours through Newark before Infield finally got close enough to corral it in a parking lot. There, the bull was tranquilized and eventually drifted off to sleep as the rush-hour traffic snarled and children snapped pictures from passing school buses.

"Back home in South Africa, this is quite common," said Infield, a manager with the Associated Humane Societies' Newark office. "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."

But that's in rural South Africa. Newark is another story.

"It's a shock to see a bull running loose here," said George Romero. "Usually when you hear about Newark, it's a murder or some crime, but a bull running loose? Seeing is believing. I was like, 'Holy cow!' "

It was the second time in as many years that wayward cattle were caught wandering around Newark. In May 2004, a steer escaped from a slaughterhouse and was eventually taken to a farm sanctuary.

Infield said Friday's bull likely escaped from a slaughterhouse or fell off a truck bound for one.

The 3-year-old mixed breed bull had an auction tag affixed to its back, indicating he was probably a T-bone waiting to happen.

The bull was first spotted at 10 p.m. Thursday, running down an industrial street leading to downtown Newark. Police shooed onlookers away and blocked off streets to keep vehicles away from the animal, which managed to elude its pursuers until Friday morning.

Infield finally chased the bull into the empty parking lot, where he tossed a rope around its neck and nudged it close enough for a second animal control officer to jab it with a tranquilizer syringe.

The bull was taken to a refuge operated by the Humane Society, where he'll live out the rest of his life.

[Last modified November 4, 2006, 01:05:33]