Mad cow reprieve in B’klyn

Flees slaughterhouse, hits girl, is locked up

IT’S NOT FAKE news, but this story is full of bull.

Cops corralled and tranquilized a rampaging bull that escaped a slaughterhouse and bowled over a 1-year-old girl as it scrambled into Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Tuesday, police and witnesses said.

An NYPD Emergency Service Unit trapped the calf inside the Parade Grounds near Coney Island and Caton Aves. after startled park visitors called 911 around 11 a.m.

After two hours, cops shot the animal with a tranquilizer dart and put it in a horse trailer to be carted to a city animal care facility.

Witnesses said the calf toppled over a small child and was hit by a car before running into the parade grounds.

“I was with my son Kamren and this cow ran out of Prospect Park and ran over a baby girl,” said Alexis Small, 20. “The mom was just crying and trying to calm her down. She was in such pain, I couldn’t even imagine.”

The child suffered a cut lip and a black eye and was taken to an area hospital, she said.

Police said they had no record of anyone being injured by the calf.

Small said the animal was clipped by a car before it ran into the parade grounds.

“(My son) was just looking at him,” Small said of Kamren. “I was trying to keep him calm, too.”

Tom Prevet, 65, was enjoying his morning coffee in Prospect Park when the bull strutted up to him.

They were within 20 feet of each other when the bull turned and ran into the gated soccer fields.

Acting quickly, Prevet closed the gate and flagged down a cop.

“He had a bunch of stickers on his back,” Prevet said. “I asked the cop, ‘You see the bull?’ and he immediately got on his radio. Within 15 minutes, there were police cars, and helicopters were everywhere.”

“It was pretty comical,” he said.

Investigators believe the bull escaped from a slaughterhouse on Fourth Ave. and 16th St. in Sunset Park and ran 2 miles to the park.

Its handler has not come forward to claim the creature, which will ultimately be sent to an animal sanctuary, police said.

Marybeth Artz, 57, an animal rescuer who witnessed the chaos, said the bull is most likely destined for Skyland Animal Sanctuary in New Jersey.

“Everybody was rooting for this bull,” Artz said. “Nobody wanted to see him go back to the slaughterhouse.”

Prospect Park residents were startled when they saw the bull barreling across the park’s baseball field.

“I have never seen a cow running through a soccer field,” said Steven Espinola. “We heard the helicopters. At first, I thought it was a human tragedy. We were rooting for the cow. We were cheering him on. I was just hoping they were more gentle with the cow than sometimes they are with people.”