A herd of cattle that escaped a local slaughterhouse was corralled in a Pico Rivera cul-de-sac Tuesday night, but officials said one of the cows was shot by deputies as they worked to round up the livestock.
Authorities were called shortly after 7:30 p.m. about 30 cows loose in the road on Beverly Boulevard and responded to the area, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.
The cows had escaped from a meat packing facility after a gate was accidentally left open.
Footage from Sky5 showed at least 20 cows huddled together at the far end of a cul-de-sac on the 8700 block of Friendship Avenue, about half a mile north of Beverly Boulevard. Several law enforcement vehicles were blocking them in.
One cow sat alone in the middle of the road some distance from the others, near a pool of blood.
Deputies opened fire on one cow after it charged at a family of four, knocking some of them to the ground, according to officials.
“To protect the family from further injury, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the animal,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
Members of the family were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries.
Firefighters were on scene to tend to the cow. An empty stroller also stood nearby with discarded items on the ground.
As the cows were being loaded into trailers around 9:45 p.m., three cows escaped the cul-de-sac and led deputies on a pursuit across town. They could be seen running alongside vehicles in the area of Beverly and Rosemead boulevards.
One resident said sheriff’s vehicles were following the cows around the neighborhood “like they’re a bunch of presidents or something.”
Deputies later learned that there was a total of 40 cows that escaped from the meat packing facility, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
One of the cows remained unaccounted for Wednesday morning.
Earlier in Tuesday evening, Daisy Laureano shared video to Facebook of a large group of cows running on Durfee Avenue between Beverly Road and Beverly Boulevard.
The neighborhood is not far from the Charlie DiMaria & Sons slaughterhouse at 9531 Beverly Road.