How Now, Rescued Cow?

The world always roots for the underdog—or in this case, the undercow.

A brave cow began his bid for freedom on Thursday when he escaped from a slaughterhouse in Queens, New York. According to reports, his daring excursion happened just in the nick of time—he was scheduled to be slaughtered on Friday.

His short-lived liberation was enough to capture the hearts of social media users, as onlookers posted videos and tweeted about his brave journey through the busy streets of New York, many pleading for his life.

After nearly an hour, police caught up with him and transported him back to the slaughterhouse. Luckily, all hope was not lost—his story reached just the right compassionate people.

PETA was contacted by an activist and then reached out to sanctuaries in the area that might be interested in giving the brave bovine a home. Skylands Animal Sanctuary & Rescue‘s Mike Stura was already on the case. He drove his truck and trailer from New Jersey in the hope of saving the animal, but by the time he got there, everyone was gone for the day.

Stura wanted to make sure the steer had every chance of living out his days at a sanctuary, so he spent the night in front of the slaughterhouse in his truck and trailer, waiting to bargain for the animal’s life.

His patience paid off. Friday morning, the slaughterhouse owner handed the cow over to Stura, who affectionately named him Freddie.

“I impressed upon [the slaughterhouse owner] several times that 38 billion cattle go to the food industry,” Stura told the New York Daily News. “It’s nice if one lives once in a while.”

Freddie won’t have anything to run away from for the rest of his life. How now, rescued cow?

What You Can Do

Freddie, like all cows and all other animals, didn’t want to die for our dinner. If his story inspired you, please pledge to go vegan and start sparing the lives of cows who are still trapped in slaughterhouses around the world.