x
Breaking News
More () »

Cow chase causes headache for Lewiston Police, laughs for neighbors

While it is not uncommon to see the occasional deer in the area, this was out of the ordinary, even for a small town surrounded by farming communities.

LEWISTON, ID — You can call her "Moo-dini." A cow caused quite a bit of chaos after escaping a cattle sale and deciding to hoof it around Lewiston for several hours, much to the fascination of neighbors.

Shirley Womack said she was, "Sitting at my table in my house with the front door open and I see this big brown object going by out front, course I have to get up and check it out."

Across the street, Nancy Hendrickson's Chihuahua, Ginger, alerted her to the "cow-motion."

"Then I saw the car patrols go by real slow. My neighbors said it went right across their yard," she said.

Strolling through alleys and moseying across lawns, with animal control not far behind, an unusual visitor moooo-ved through Lewiston's Normal Hill neighborhood.

"Unbelievably, it's a cow in our neighborhood," Shirley laughs.

While it is not uncommon to see the occasional deer in the area, this was out of the ordinary, even for a small town surrounded by farming communities.

"I have seen moose over in the cemetery, but never seen a cow," Shirley says in disbelief.

It was one of three bovines that busted out and hoofed it through Lewiston's residential neighborhoods. One cow in particular went from the college, to the Civic Theater, and all the green patches it could find in between. The strange sight prompted neighbors to ask: where'd it come from?

"Someone said they thought it fell out of a truck," Nancy says. "But it doesn't look injured."

Actually, the cows escaped the cattle sale at the stockyards, meaning the curious cow traveled from East Main Street. Eventually the brazen bovine was lassoed by a good Samaritan with some ranch experience - but not before creating quite a scene.

"Can you imagine coming home and having a cow pie in your yard?" Nancy laughs.

It could also possibly lead to a citation for the owner; it is a violation of city code to allow an animal to run like this, and Lewiston Police said the owner declined to come catch the cow until the late afternoon. It created a huge headache for police, who had between three and five officers trying to capture the cow. They had around 30 calls to the emergency line, further tying them up in what Lewiston Police Lieutenant Jeff Klone called a "significant drain on resources."

However, for those who just got to watch the action from the sidelines, it was the big "moos" of the day.

"Kind of an exciting day," Nancy said with a laugh as she watched the cow cross the street. "I find it kind of nice, settling almost, that the big story of Lewiston, Idaho is that a cow got out of the stockyard," another spectator says. "It's kind of a nice thing to not have violent news."

Before You Leave, Check This Out