Carabao about to be butchered goes wild; hurts 4 in Pangasinan town

MANGALDAN, PANGASINAN — A carabao, which was about to be butchered at the slaughterhouse here, got loose and gored four people on early Thursday (June 7) morning.

The 10-year-old male carabao was being led by its owner Ronald Soriano to the slaughtering area about 1:30 a.m. when it suddenly sprang and attacked 20-year-old butcher Jon Mark Molato, according to Veronica Junatas, the slaughterhouse master.

Molato was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The carabao fled, breaking the leg of Soriano.

Policemen sent to the slaughterhouse could not locate the carabao, which ran towards an open field, said Junatas.

At 5:30 a.m., the carabao was reported to have gored Diane Bautista and John Paul Serapion, who were refueling at a gasoline station.

Policemen eventually put down the animal with an M16 rifle.

In a radio interview, SPO4 Vicente Abrazaldo of the Mangaldan police station, described the carabao as a “raging bull ready to kill anytime.”

Junatas said the carabao had been calm. “But they say that some animals become wild if they smell blood of other animals,” she said.

Junatas said the slaughterhouse butchers 30 heads of cattle and almost 200 hogs each day.