One of the two cows that got loose in lower Middletown early Tuesday. Her half-sister was destroyed by police after she was struck by a car. (Photo courtesy of Mary McGrath. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One cow was struck by a car and had to be euthanized after she and her half-sister wandered away from a farm in the River Plaza section of Middletown early Tuesday morning, police said.
The accident occurred at about 12:20 a.m. on West Front Street near Chris’ Deli, police said.
The sight of the second cow on the loose in a residential development near the Navesink River caused a stir among neighbors.
In an 12:56 a.m. email to redbankgreen, reader Christopher Brett said a cow was “fleeing south on Albert St. towards the river.”
Police “were chasing the cow and my husband brought out a rope for them to use to keep the cow safe until they found the owner,” wrote Mary McGrath. “Around 2 am they brought the owners to the cow and they walked back home with the cow.”
Police Sergeant Anthony Bagileo tells redbankgreen that information on the accident, and the details of the cow’s destruction, were not immediately available. In response to a question about reports from neighbors of three gunshots, Bagileo confirmed that the cow had been put down by a police officer using a firearm.
The cows belonged to Bill Potter, of Potters Farm, on Red Hill Road, several miles north, but had been housed at a farm near West Front Street, Potter told redbankgreen. He declined to identify the property, except to say that it isn’t his.
Potter said the cows were beef cattle and three-year-old half sisters that he raised for agricultural purposes but considered pets.
“I don’t name them, but you get attached to them,” he said.
Declining to offer more information, he said, “It’s just been a tough morning, that’s all.”
