Cow escapes slaughter house only to be gunned down by cops

POCATELLO, Idaho - Out of the frying pan and into the line of fire?

A 1,000-pound cow being prepared for slaughter jumped a 6-foot fence and bolted through the streets of Pocatello on Friday before police shot and killed it following a lengthy pursuit.

Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand told the Idaho State Journal that his officers fired two shots at the heifer because it posed a safety risk.

A few days later on Sunday, three more cows escaped the plant, and now the owners of Anderson Custom Pack, a meat processing business, are crying foul.

"The gate had been tampered with and pushed open," co-owner Julie Anderson told CBS affiliate KIDK in Idaho Falls. "There is, for sure, foul play."

Anderson said the cows were secured in a holding pen when workers checked on them Saturday.

The two missing cows are valued at about $1,500 a piece, giving thieves a motive.

"The price of beef is really high right now," said Anderson.

One of the three escaped cows was recaptured without incident. Two are still on the lam.

Early in the chase for the first escaped cow, an officer shot the cow in the head but the wounded animal kept running.

The cow led police and animal control officers on a chase on foot and in vehicles through the city's north side. It rammed an animal control truck and two police cars.

The animal was eventually cornered in a residential backyard about 3 miles away, and was shot and killed by a police officer.