E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAn animal control officer shot and killed a bull Thursday after it escaped on its way to a Maryland meat processing plant, charged a sheriff's deputy and damaged a patrol car, authorities said.
The bull escaped Thursday morning in Mount Airy, Md., about 50 miles north of Washington, as it was being led from a truck into the plant, said Brian Horton, a spokesman for the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.
According to the sheriff's incident report, the bull broke free, charged a bystander and ran off in the general direction of a day care center. Deputies followed him into a nearby field, where he then charged one of the deputies.
"Fearing for their safety, a deputy discharged two rounds from a shotgun, striking the bull, and causing him to retreat into a wooded area," the report said. A county animal control officer then finished him off with two more shots.
Besides the bull, the only casualty was the taillight on a deputy's cruiser, which the bull slammed into as he eluded attempts to corral him. The body of the bull — presumably no longer fit for human consumption as it was by then lead-contaminated — was released back to its owner.
Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Bunch of Bull !
Such a great act of defiance. That bull flipped the bird at the slaughter house before it ran. Too bad he didn't get away...
The poor creature had nothing to lose. I'm glad it was able to defy the human empire before it died.
How did Mr Bull escape? Protocols on animal handling are in place at every slaughterhouse. Must have been a real knucklehead handling the unload/intake pen. Somebody is going to be written up or fired.
Signs of respect are charming, but its still a dead bull. What if it was a bull that rampaged at a petting zoo and killed children? You'd all be asking why someone didn't shoot it in the same manner and then applaud the heroic action.
Run bull run. Run to your freedom. @!$%# you would run too.
Bull went down fighting. Respect.
A direct descendant of the original "bull of the woods". At least He won't be anyone's hamburger.
The bull knew what was coming and decided to make a run for it. What I do not get is why they say it is no longer fit for human consumption. People shoot animals all the time and then eat them, you just need to make sure you get all the shotgun pellets out first. I guess in the commercial meat industry they do not want to be bothered with cleaning out the shotgun pellets and would rather let the meat just go to waste, particularly since it is the bulls owner, not the meat packing plant that will take the loss. This seems a little ridiculous. I hope the owner will not let the meat go to waste and will donate it to an organization that will appreciate it. These days there are plenty of people who could use the meal. It would be a shame for this proud animal to die for nothing.
You'll never take me alive, coppers!
What did you do at work today dad??
Nothing son just shot the bull.
No PETA bonerz?
Yeah, i am here you little bitch.
spike is a internet tuff guy scary
Wounder what the sheriff's deputy said when the bull charged him??? Did it start with THIS IS
Headline: Cops Shoot The Bull and Can't Get The Lead Out
911 call: This is no bull...erm no wait.
and I bet the owner still processed the meat!
The bull won the fight and should have been awarded the right to life with the possibility of parole.
Sounds like this bull was on crystal, I bet he had no clothes on either, and it took alot to take him down.
Classic meth bull.
He vowed to the other bulls he would not be eaten,and he was right.
I would've run away too. It's in a better place.
Lead contaminated??!!! Really???!!! I must have consumed a lot of lead over the years from all the deer my dad shot and we ate. LOL!!
Lead contamination?
Now THAT is a bunch of bull.
If that were the case millions of hunters each year would be dead from lead poisioning.
Poor bull. Too bad cheeseburgers taste so good ... XD
If i was the owner I would be like "take the bull and GTFO!, aint no use to me dead". lol :P
It was already sold and they can still use the meat for some uses.
I am ashamed of everyone on this site that is joking about this bull that was trying not to be killed. Anyone that doesn't have empathy for the bull should be trucked off to the same plant and see how their sense of humor is when they are being led in. Why don't you fat mother@!$%#ers eat a salad once in a while and maybe not be obese.
Spike.... (odd name for an animal lover)... don't have a cow.
That is what I am talking about. We should eat you instead. You are already brain dead.
The bull was "trying not to be killed"? Cattle are not sentient beings, and cannot "think".
I have no empathy for an essentially wild animal, raised for meat, that also has a strong will to protect territory and kill people. That's not a pet we're talking about, and it would not have valued our lives any more than, say, a polar bear would have. Hopefully, it suffered far more at the hands of the rifle bearing sniper than it ever would ever have going through the line. Now all that good meat gets wasted.
Spike 322306 - Of course the bull is sentient. A mammal is not a houseplant. Bulls can think, and sense danger, and feel fear and go into fight or flight mode like this unfortunate fellow did (first he tried flight, then he fought). Of course cattle are not mulling over their stock portfolios but they do have the ability to understand situations and take steps to safeguard their lives and protect their offspring. It wouldn't take a genius bull to smell death and fear and know that something bad was happening and he should get the he// out of there. Saying animals "cannot think" is the stupidest thing I've read here today, and that's saying something.
Spike, you must be one of those ridiculous PETA activists that equate animal suffering with the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. Totally disgusting, in my book. Why don't you fly yourself out to the African Savannah and protest every time a lion/hyena/crocodile/leopard/cheetah eats a zebra/wildebeast/gazelle/whatever while it's STILL ALIVE??? I think that animal suffering should be minimized, but come on, don't fault omnivores for eating meat...
Oh, and by the way, I'm not obese - in fact, the majority of Americans aren't, and I'd say at least 90% of them eat meat too. But while we're referring to each other using stereotypes, get out of your mother's basement, eat a sandwich so you're not so grouchy, and get a job, because clearly you have WAY too much time on your hands...
"...Saying animals "cannot think" is the stupidest thing I've read here today, and that's saying something."
Do a little reading and find out the meaning of the words, sentient, and think, and how I used them. Semantics.
The animal was not thinking about "trying not to be killed". It has no concept of death.
BTW---Calling someone stupid because you disagree with them, is REALLY stupid.
Spike, you're talking about using humans for meat if they're not intelligent enough, I guess we should just feed you to the tigers at the zoo if you don't past our clue test.
Hey a head of lettuce has feelings too :(
And I am sick and tired of people who don't know they were placed on this earth as omnivores.
Go to the mirror and smile.
If you HAVE teeth, you have canines and incisors as well as molars.
You were not born a cow, you EAT them.
Spike - What makes you think that we're all fat? I love a good steak, I'm 57 and I'll bet you ten bucks I can beat you in a 10K run. We'd also appreciate it if you'd leave out the sexual references. Gee, where are the moderators when you need them.
But, I don't blame the bull for running, I'd have given it a go too.
Elizabeth - Since we're not talking about a Sci-Fi story, you're correct that the bull was sentient, meaning conscious. It wasn't however sapient, so I'm still going to enjoy that steak.
Spike, salad is what "food" eats, then we eat the food.
Hey Viewer_Ready, You better hope that YOU don't come back as a cow!
Mr. Mossard.
"MOOO"!
Spike... let me understand you... you want to lead people to slaughter... so you can eat them?
Seems like the officers shot the wrong animal.
@ CJ; Good one. "dont have a cow"lol zing.
@ spike; we all feel for the bull bro,but none the less they are a food supply,relax, they are fed and watered then die,they would do the same anyway.
Spike... if it helps... I do acknowledge there is plenty of room on earth for all of God's creatures... right next to the mashed potatoes!
There are two spikes on this thread! I'm spike322306, not spike77!
Have never understood how I got all the numbers.
Perhaps the numbers were assigned based on the IQ of the Spike.... I'm just saying.
I am an animal lover too - a lot of them are quite tasty!
Spike, First of all, I am not obese, secondly, I do eat salads quite regularly, and thirdly, I only eat reasonable portions of meat with each meal! Why is it that you PETA freaks always assume that anyone who eats meat is a obese slob? Most of us are not overweight, and many of us are truly concerned abouit the welfare of the animals we end up eating! It is just that we don't anthropomorphise animals, giving them atributes that only people have, like knowledge of future posibilities, fear of death, self awareness, etc. You can believe anything you like, but that does not mean it is true! And I will continue to eat beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, and goat meat with the knowledge that I am consuming something that was raised locally, slaughtered humanely, and contributes to my overall nutritional balance!
Just wondering, what do PETA supporters feed carnivorous pets (such as cats) which REQUIRE meat to survive?
We would probably sound something like you do.
This reporter is not the brightest lamp in the chandelier. He (or she) does not understand lead contamination in food, or humor. However, the meat probably could not sold as fit for sale because of the lack of control in slaughter. Possible dogfood, most likely rendering works.
BTW, unless the deputy was using a slug, the shot would now be steel. This is to protect ducks, geese, fish and our water from true lead contamination from ingestion of dissolved lead salts.
My (educated) guess is that the real problem is that (1) the cost of removing the pellets from the beef, combined with (2) the fact that much of the beef will be damaged by pellets ripping through it, and (3) the risk of missing a piece of shot and injuring a consumer, combine to make it economically inefficient to process the bull for meat. There is also a risk that an unseen pellet could damage the tools used to butcher the carcass.
Denny,
Buckshot, not birdshot. Depending on the load, probably 9-18 shot of 1/8" to 3/16" diameter. Shot would have been localized.
Food products are usually screened for metals (broken machine parts or sabotage), either by x-ray or magnetic disturbance. Bigger issues would have been with abdominal wounds spreading bacteria and digestive juices AND with insects, which would almost immediately start to feed or lay eggs on the corpse.
The lead did not spread it stayed in one place and is easily removed.
Denny, the problem is not the "lead contamination" of the bull's corpse, but rather, as Bill pointed out in his original post, that the bull was not killed in a controlled setting, ie. in the slaughterhouse. Any animal which is not alive when it enters the slaughterhouse is deemed unfit for human consumption by the inspecting authorities. The farmer which owned the bull could presumably have it butchered by a non-certified slaughterhouse for his or her own personal use. But sale of the animal to other than a dog food manufacturer is prohibited.
Darn, wish he would have trampled some mean people. I'd have run too (as all of you would too) if I was about to die.
once a year, they should be allowed to eat us. we and I eat them the other 364-days, yaknow.
Suicide by cop! Better to go out this way than to be eaten by the mad dogs!
He fought for his life. He lost. It's not winning or losing that is the most important thing, it IS fighting the important battles. RIP boy, RIP. I am so very sorry.
So agree, Gabriel.
Do you eat meat?
Had it been a battle only involving strength and wits, the bull would have won!
Spike you are to funny, you probably voted for Obummer also.
^ Please see the above post for the mandatory Obama slam that Tea Party posters feel must be included with each and every news article, no matter how non-political or unrelated to Obama the story may be.
By the way... Where was Dick Cheney during all of this?
gives the cops a adenaline-rush, just like busti'n drunks, or kids field-parties.......
at least It's the 1st time a cop was ''CHARGED'' and It stuck!
Stop eating our animals!
Animals were placed here for you to eat.
If you don't like it, raise a garden and buy stock in skinny jeans.
Better yet, carry on a sentient conversation with a cow and see how it feels about this issue.
RE:"Stop eating our animals" OK prove you own them and I'll stop if you give up Veggies. Remember you are what you eat.
If we stopped eating the animals we'd have a serious population problem. Or wait, do you just mean to kill them and let them rot in the earth? They were made to eat. Sorry, it's the truth of the matter. Whether the rabbits on this board want to admit it or not is a different story. I for one rarely eat beef, but it is good once in a while.
If the animal was not raised for slaughter, it would not have been alive at all! So you obviously want all domestic animals on earth to be allowed to die out, leaving only those which are either feral or wild left behind. Goodbye to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens ducks, geese, turkeys, and every other form of animal life which is raised solely for the use of humans for food!