Wrangling a runaway bovine

AMES, Iowa --- Ames and Iowa State University police spent more than two hours Friday chasing down a fugitive cow that had absconded from the ISU Veterinary Medicine complex.

Tranquilizer darts were used to subdue the animal after what police estimate was an eight- or nine-mile chase from South Fourth Street near the Iowa State Center and around town before finally ending up at Coldwater Golf Course.

The wandering animal took several darts without falling before eventually being captured.

Lawrence Evans, a veterinarian with the university, said the cow had been brought to the school earlier in the day for calving. The cow's owner, who believed the animal to be docile, left the gate unsecured, and the cow took off.

Jerry Stewart, director of ISU's Department of Public Safety, said police received a call about a cow at large around 11 a.m.

Ames and ISU police, along with Ames Animal Control and personnel from ISU Veterinary Medicine, initiated a search. For a time, Evans said, there was a concern the animal would prove dangerous and have to be euthanized.

Vet Med officials shot the cow with four darts during the two-hour ordeal, each one carrying double the amount of tranquilizer that normally would be required to sedate an animal.

“She was still mad at us when we loaded her out,” Evans said.

The cow was taken home by its owner to recover, Evans said.

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