Edmonton police find that sending a bull to catch a cow is a bad idea

When an Edmonton farmer sent one of his cows to the slaughterhouse yesterday, the feisty beast decided it didn't like that idea.

The cow slipped through an unlocked gate and gave police quite a chase as it wandered around the nearby industrial area, enjoying its new-found freedom, according to CBC News.

[ Related: Girl teaches cow to jump over a fence; next, the Moon ]

The authorities decided it made sense to release a bull to help lure the smaller cow. All part of the plan, thought the plotting cattle, and then the bull charged a police car. Alas, the runaways were only cattle, not masterminds, and before long the little one was all locked up in a trailer.

But the 1,000 kilogram bull wandered on, eventually turning up behind a Wendy's restaurant, near a train yard, according to the Province.

A beef inspector who helped hatch a plan to catch the cattle told The Province that no one seemed to know what to do and one person suggested giving the bull oats. Bulls don't eat oats.

Police circled the bull on snowmobiles, further aggravating the beast. No word on which officer volunteered to tackle the bull if they had cornered it.

Eventually authorities shot the bull with a tranquilizer gun and loaded it onto a trailer.

[ Related: Romantic elk banished from B.C. ranch after falling in love with cow ]

Too bad, these cattle won't be immortalized like the animal legend Francis the Pig, who escaped spectacularly from a Red Deer abattoir in 1990 and led the life of a fugitive for several months, capturing the hearts of onlookers who campaigned for Francis' freedom.