Cow set for slaughter saved by songwriter

LA CHASE A view of the cows at Frank Konyn Dairy Inc., in Escondido, California. Dozens of cattle escaped from a meatpacking plant and led police on a slow-moving chase through a residential area of Los Angeles on June 23. —AFP

LOS ANGELES — A cow that remained at large after she and 40 others escaped from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse was found on Thursday, but unlike her fellow ex-fugitives, she will be spared after a celebrity songwriter intervened on her behalf.

The cows had caused a sensation when they ran amok on Tuesday evening in the streets of Pico Rivera, a residential area of the city, wandering around and munching on people’s lawns.

Sheriff’s deputies aided by police on horseback took hours to corral the animals and get them onto trailers for the trip back to the slaughterhouse.

At one point police had the runaways cornered in a cul de sac but the herd scattered when officers tried to round them up.

They had escaped the meatpacking plant through a gate that was left open. Police shot dead one of them when it charged toward a family with children, but eventually 38 were returned to face their demise.

Evading the law

But one of them continued to evade the law and was only found early on Thursday, grazing in a field a few miles from the slaughterhouse.

A Pico Rivera municipal official said the cow would be sent to an animal shelter, rather than the slaughterhouse, thanks to the intervention of Diane Warren, a California songwriter who has won a Grammy, an Emmy and two Golden Globes for her scores for hit movies.

The town of Pico Rivera is itself in discussions with the owners of the slaughterhouse over the possibility of sending all the escapees to shelters, the official said.