Cattle’s quest for freedom pays off

ST. LOUIS — Six cattle escaped from a slaughterhouse in north St. Louis on Thursday, interrupting traffic as they trotted through surrounding neighborhoods and led police and others on an hours-long chase.

The cattle slipped away from the Star Packing Co. through an unsecured door, according to Fourth District Capt. Renee Kriesmann. Their bold dash for freedom prompted successful efforts to save them from the slaughterhouse.

The cattle eventually were captured without incident in three different locations, but SWAT officers responded with rifles as a precaution, Kriesmann said. Animal-control officers and the Humane Society of Missouri were on hand to help, and the pursuit and capture attracted groups of onlookers.

One of the animals even managed a second escape after being penned at the Little Sisters of the Poor residence. It broke through a fence there and led pursuers on a chase of more than a mile before it was captured.

“It’s just so incredibly

“It’s just so incredibly sad. They’re just running for their life.”

— Susie Coston, director of Farm Sanctuary

sad. They’re just running for their life,” said Susie Coston, director of the New York-based Farm Sanctuary, where 45 rescued cattle already reside.

At first, the 175acre sanctuary and an animal-rescue organization in New Jersey offered to take in three of the renegade bovines each. Slaughterhouse owner Omar Hamdan said he’d surrender the heifers, but only for a price.

The cost of each animal was around $1,800, depending on the weight.

The Farm Sanctuary doesn’t pay for animals, but it and several others created GoFundMe accounts to save the cattle. According to St. Louis TV station KSDK and the sanctuary, plenty of money was raised and the cattle saved, although the sanctuary claimed Hamden kept raising his price.