Animal rescuers try every trick to lure bull out of hiding in Suffolk

A cow named Norma Jean was unloaded in Manorville Wednesday evening in hopes of luring out the bull.

News 12 Staff

Jul 21, 2021, 10:54 AM

Updated 1,172 days ago

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Animal rescue crews are trying every trick in the book to capture the 1,500-pound bull seen on video running through the streets of Suffolk County.
Police say it escaped from the Halal Farm on Barnes Road after it broke through a fence Tuesday.
Authorities say they received multiple reports of the bull running loose on Montgomery Avenue in Mastic on Tuesday around 8:20 a.m.
Animal rescue volunteers with tranquilizers searched a wooded area that runs parallel to Sunrise Highway where the bull was spotted Tuesday night.
Now, a cow named Norma Jean was unloaded in Manorville Wednesday evening in hopes of luring out the bull.
Frankie Floridia, of Strong Island Animal Rescue, says the bull is likely afraid and tired but has everything it needs to survive in the woods.
"He has food in here, he has water in here," says Floridia. "What else is going to bring him out? So, we figure we'd bring a girl."
As News 12 has reported, the bull was scheduled to be slaughtered as part of the Muslim holiday Eid.
Roy Gross, the chief of the Suffolk SPCA, says inspectors from the USDA, Suffolk DA's Office and SPCA responded to the farm and determined the facility was in compliance.
"My detective actually witnessed the slaughtering of some of these animals, obviously most people would find it disturbing, but it it's a legal facility," says Gross.
Rescue volunteers say the owner of the bull has promised that when it is found it will be pardoned and taken to a sanctuary in New Jersey.
Gross says there is concern that the bull could get spooked and run out onto Sunrise Highway. He says between the size of the animal and the impact of a crash it could end up killing someone and itself.
Floridia says, "We're going to just stick to thermal imaging, night vision and hoping he comes back to the spot he was last night when we came close to getting him."
Police say anyone who sees the bull should call 911.