Moo-dini Click here for the original story
A few times each year stories like this make the news and insiders can't help but shake their heads. This is the reason why cattle producers lose patience with urbanites / the media:
Dumb point #1
They always get the terminology wrong. This animal isn't a cow. If it's female it's a heifer, but watching the video I think it's a steer or maybe a bull (we'd need a better look between the legs to confirm). Think udder vs. testicles. Imagine what city folks would think if cattle producers called teenaged boys "women?"
Dumb point #2
Chances are somebody left a gate open and that's how it got away. It doesn't have the mental facilities to plan an elaborate escape. It ran because people in vehicles were chasing it, no doubt while honking their horns. It wasn't trying to get away from the slaughterhouse, it was trying to get away from them.
Dumb point #3
People were "cheering it on." This is ridiculous on so many levels.
Dumb point #4
The man at the slaughterhouse told them it would live out its life on a farm. That's what you tell a five year-old when a stray dog shows up and the child asks, "Can we keep him?" Sometimes it's easier to lie than to tell the truth.
Dumb point #5
Steers are not pets. Period.
Dumb point #6
Any farmer with half a brain isn't going to keep that thing and if he does, good luck. Fed and watered, it will live for another 17 years and grow to about 1,800 lbs. If he could keep it in a fence (a 50% chance if it is a steer, 0% chance if it's a bull), he'll have to feed it. A low estimate is $500 a year = $8,500. The return: $0
Chances are once the cameras are gone, it will be end up in the freezer. If not by now, by next spring. That's why it was produced in the first place.
What do I want to know?
Why was an 800 lb. steer sent to the processor . . . shouldn't it be fattening in a feedlot somewhere? And who took the approx. $1,050 financial hit if it was given away?
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