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Photo: Johnston Police Department
You read that right, breaking moos. It's not every day that you hear about a 1,500lb cow roaming near Providence, and traveling far and wide throughout the state of Rhode Island, but that's 2021 for you. Chalk it up to "unprecedented times". After weeks in the streets, the "Johnston Cow" was spotted and corralled by its original owner Ledyard Lewis and the Johnson Police Department. The cow returns to its original home of a North Stonington farm, but sadly the animal's fate is unclear.
The original plan for the steer was to head to a butcher shop for slaughter back on February 4th, but clearly, the cow was having none of it. The cow escaped when the staff at Rhode Island Beef and Veal looked the other way and has roamed the state freely ever since.
The cow was seen on occasion, from someone's yard to even abiding by traffic laws. One bystander states “It was about 2 a.m. I was on my way to pick up a passenger, and I look to my left, and there was a cow there, just hanging out, waiting for the red light! When it turned green, the cow goes!" Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena was in disbelief that it took this long, he even thought coyotes would have taken it down.
The Cow has caused quite the stir over the past few weeks. There were concerns that it was going to cause a traffic accident, but it was just trying to enjoy some freedom, and gain some Twitter clout. Throughout the journey, the Johnston Cow gained a massive fan club. More than 12,000 people have signed a petition asking that the cow be allowed to live the rest of its life at an animal sanctuary per the Providence Journal. Petition starter, Victoria Ferruccio-Flores, wrote, "This guy wants to live so badly and we think he's earned the right to live out the rest of his days in peace, at a Sanctuary!". We're rooting for the Johnston Cow, hopefully, he isn't on a plate anytime soon.
