CAMPBELLSPORT, Wis. – Police say they were forced to shoot a runaway steer after the 1,500-pound animal broke free at a meat market and charged through the streets of Campbellsport, Wisconsin.
“That’s something you don’t see everyday,” village resident Robert Teeple remembered thinking after his surveillance system alerted him to movement outside his home at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Tuesday is processing day at a nearby meat market, and the steer broke through a gate, according to WITI.
“It was running through neighborhoods, running towards busy highways. The officer decided he should take the shot,” said Tom Dornbrook, Campbellsport police chief.
An initial shot wasn’t enough to stop the animal. Ken Schmidt said when officers cornered the steer in his backyard, he knew the chase was finally over.
“Kinda wild there, you know? It was a quite large animal and [they] knew they weren’t going to tackle it or wrassle it down,” said Schmidt.
Pictures showed that the incident finally ended on Frances Avenue.
“You don’t like the idea of firing handguns in town, but we had to stop it,” said Chief Dornbrook.
“I think it was the right move and a safe move,” said Schmidt.
Chief Dornbrook said a tranquilizer was on the way from the sheriff’s office, but concerns grew as the animal became more aggressive and wandered near busy roads. The meat market is taking steps to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, according to WITI.