Turner Valley had another animal arrest on Tuesday after a bull ran amok around town.
Turner Valley had another animal arrest on Tuesday after a bull ran amok around town.
No one was injured after RCMP and peace officers worked to drive the large longhorn bull away from housing after it broke loose from a veterinarian’s holding pen on Oct. 10.
David “Blackie” Lawrence, owner of the Woodstock Hotel, was on his way into town when he saw several police cars clustered down Frontenac Avenue.
“I see this tree shaking and I thought they had the bear back,” said Lawrence, referring to the black bear that had been foraging in town recently.
“Well it was a bull in there, just shaking it’s horns in the tree.”
As the bull began to run east down Fontenac, Lawrence found himself near Hubert Street and noticed children were playing outside Turner Valley School.
“They gotta come right by the street that connects up to the elementary school,” said Lawrence. “I noticed all the kids were out playing in the playground, so I zoomed up that street.”
Lawrence acted quickly, blocking the route to Royal Avenue through Hubert Street where the school is located.
The bull luckily continued east out of the residential but his close encounters of the human kind weren’t over.
Turner Valley resident Jesse Parker was returning from a walk with his blue heeler, Cheeno, in the area east of the rink when he rounded the courthouse. Seeing a police cruiser rush in and block traffic, Parker stopped and waited.
“That’s when I see two big horns coming through the Auto Planet parking lot,” said Parker. “This is where things got interesting.”
As the bull began to run towards the open area beside the courthouse, it changed direction, heading directly for Parker.
“Him and I locked eyes and as soon as that happened I knew I was kind of in shit."
Parker was able to duck out of the way as the bull charged him, after which it lost interest and continued around the courthouse.
“At that point I jumped right up and I see my dog mach-threeing it across the street heading home and I took off after him.”
Police were then able to drive the animal into a more secluded area where it was given space to settle down.
“It was good work between everybody involved,” said Turner Valley Staff Sgt. Dwayne Helgeson. “We had the members and even the peace officers involved in getting the bull safely out of town.”
“There were moments there where the public was going to be put at risk otherwise.”
RCMP officers were forced to consider the option of shooting the animal before two cowboys joined the posse, going in on horseback to where the bull had settled down.
“There were some local ranchers that really helped us out here at the end by getting that bull under control, corralled and eventually into the trailer.”
Ed O’Reilly was one of the ranchers who answered the call.
“That’s what we do,” said O’Reilly. “We’re cattle guys, we’re stockmen – it’s kind of like asking a welder out to weld something”
“It’s a perfect outcome.”
