‘Frank’ The Runaway Bull Escapes New York Slaughter, Gets Rescued By Jon Stewart
A New York City slaughterhouse had one less side of beef to process on Friday, when a bull named Frank ran for his life through the streets of Queens.
New York Police said that the “vicious animal” leapt off the truck while handlers attempted to unload him, and galloped away near Liberty Boulevard around 10 a.m. From there, the bull wandered onto the campus of CUNY York College. He found a grassy area there and decided to hang out.
The NYPD shot the bull with two tranquilizer darts and brought him to the ground, Officer Sophia Mason, an NYPD spokeswoman told Fortune Magazine.
Witnesses said that the bull was being transported to a Jamaican slaughterhouse on 165th Street, when he jumped off the truck.
The bull was then taken to an Animal Care Center facility in Brooklyn, according to a story in Pix11.
Bull escapes slaughterhouse, darts through NYC streets before being saved by Jon Stewart https://t.co/NGHNxJIDbz pic.twitter.com/iRd4gyGDqU
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) April 2, 2016
The Animal Care Center contacted Farm Sanctuary, which reached out to Tracey McShane, animal welfare activist on the board of directors at the Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York, according to NPR.
Tracey McShane’s husband is animal lover, vegetarian, and former host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart.
The Stewarts named the bull “Frank Lee” for Frank Lee Morris, who escaped Alcatraz prison in 1962.
Jon Stewart hauled his livestock trailer to Brooklyn. He spent some time hand-feeding hay to the bull to calm him, and then drove the animal to New Jersey, where the animal could be loaded onto another trailer and driven to upstate New York.
After he undergoes a physical at Cornell University, Frank Lee will go to live out his days at a 175-acre shelter run by Farm Sanctuary in the upstate New York village of Watkins Glen. On Saturday, national shelter director Susie Coston said the bull weighs 800 pounds at only a year old, and could triple his weight by the time he is fully mature.
“He’s not going to be a bull for much longer, unfortunately. He’s a bulky boy. If they are not neutered, you run the risk of them breaking into the herd, hurting someone.”
Neutering may not be Frank Lee’s favorite experience, but the old saying goes, it’s better than the alternative. The surgery will be done at Cornell before Frank leaves for greener pastures. Coston says it’s all for the best.
“This guy is going to have a perfect life. He’ll be running with friends and head-butting with the boys.”
Jon Stewart Helped Save A Bull On The Run From A Slaughterhouse https://t.co/GjBoLSYoo2 pic.twitter.com/np2qbLgH5B
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 2, 2016
Frank is the second bovine since January to escape this same slaughterhouse, and to win its freedom. A cow later named Freddie, after singer Freddie Mercury, leapt off the truck and was captured minutes later. But a New Jersey animal rights activist stepped in and took Freddie to an animal sanctuary in Wantage.
Farm Sanctuary released the following statement on Frank’s rescue.
“All animals deserve to be rescued but by paying the perpetrators of this cruelty for the animals, we put more money in their pockets to purchase additional animals who will be subjected to the tortures of the animal industry. Farm sanctuary rescues animals and negotiates their release by convincing the owners that compassion is the right path and that these animals are deserving of sanctuary. Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to secure the voluntary release of these animals. Farm Sanctuary did not solicit funds nor were we aware prior to our intervention of anyone paying for the release of Frank Lee.”
[Image via Jaguar PS/Shutterstock]
