A Bull Has An Afternoon Out In Baltimore
A 1,600-pound bull ventured on a short-lived quest for freedom Wednesday in West Baltimore, spending about three hours on the loose before finally succumbing to tranquilizers and being put back into the trailer whence he came.
Baltimore police said the report of a loose bull came in about 3:10 p.m.
The bull, a 1-year-old Angus breeder named No. 33, was headed back to a farm in Frederick County when he somehow escaped a trailer at a red light.
"He's a big bull, but he was very agitated," said the bull's owner, Scott Barao of Hedgeapple Farm, which is located near Frederick.
The animal spent some time corralled in a grassy field near Coppin State University. Police blocked off streets while students watched what the university called the bull's "stand off with authorities."
Employees with the Maryland Zoo were called in and officials shot the animal with tranquilizers.
But, as seen in a video, it evaded fences — and police tape — and ventured into a neighborhood nearby.
It took three rounds of tranquilizers to get the animal down, Baltimore's WMAR-2 News reported.
A towing company was called in to help load the bull onto a flatbed tow truck and from there back into the livestock trailer.
No one was injured. Barao thanked officials for their restraint in responding to the bull on parade.
"They could've shot that bull two hours ago and been done with it," he told reporters, according to The Baltimore Sun. "He's extremely valuable to us and we're just glad to have him alive."
It's the third bull to escape in West Baltimore this year and at least the seventh in five years, according to the Sun's count. Most are linked to a nearby slaughterhouse. [Copyright 2019 NPR]
