Bull Killed During Last-Ditch Bid for Freedom Prompts PETA Memorial Urging Empathy

For Immediate Release:
August 16, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

To memorialize the brave bull who did everything in his power to escape slaughter only to be shot and killed near Lake Nippenicket this week, PETA plans to place a billboard in his honor along I-495 urging everyone, “Help Others Escape the Slaughterhouse: Please, Go Vegan.”

The bull was being forced onto a truck bound for a slaughterhouse when he escaped from his captors at Mathieu Farms on Monday. According to police, “The bull ran through multiple fences, including electrified fences, and jumped over a 6-foot-tall berm,” then bolted onto the highway and dodged several fast-moving cars before rushing off into the woods. The bull started to swim in Lake Nippenicket but was shot at multiple times by police, whose bullets shattered his leg when he came to the shore. The farm’s owner later shot the terrified bull in the head as he lay helpless in the grass.

“This bull ran for his life and fought as hard as he could for his freedom, as any human would if someone tried to send them to slaughter,” says PETA Senior Director Danielle Katz. “PETA’s billboard will remind everyone that they can honor his bravery and win freedom for all other animals—from bulls to birds—by keeping them off their plates.”

Every year, millions of animals headed for slaughterhouses are crammed onto trucks where they typically go without food, water, or rest for the duration of the journey, which can sometimes be days. Many cows collapse in hot weather. In the cold, cows sometimes become frozen to the sides of trucks until workers pry them off with crowbars. By the time the exhausted cows reach the slaughterhouse, many are too sick or injured to walk, and others who are too frightened to leave the truck are shocked with electric prods or dragged off with chains.

Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.