Thanks to Jon Stewart and his wife, Tracey, the fate of the runaway bull has gone from dinner plate to blissful sanctuary.
The Angus bull, named Frank Lee after an Alcatraz prison escapee, made a run for freedom on Friday during transport to a slaughterhouse in Jamaica, New York. The bull followed his instincts and escaped from the transport truck to the closest pasture – a green space on York College’s campus.
A video from WABC shows NYPD officers trying to wrangle the bull on the college’s campus – even at one point shooting a tranquilizer dart at the animal. Eventually, Frank was subdued and transported to the Animal Care Center in Brooklyn.
Frank’s daring dash to freedom caught the attention of the former Daily Show comedian, Jon Stewart and Tracey. They were notified by members of Farm Sanctuary about the animal’s plight. The organization negotiated a voluntary release for Frank Lee to the Watkins Glen shelter in New York.
The Stewarts drove from their Bufflehead Farm in New Jersey to meet Frank in Brooklyn. A video posted by Farm Sanctuary shows Jon Stewart feeding Frank and saying “everyone likes hay.” You can watch the video below.
Frank Lee’s next ride will be to Bufflehead Farm – a 12-acre piece of property in Middletown Township, New Jersey. However, his freedom comes at a price.
Frank, after spending a weekend at the Stewart family farm, will be transported to Cornell University Hospital for Animals. His routine checkup will end in castration. The bull will become a steer.
He will spend the rest of his life at the Watkins Glen facility – a 175-acre piece of land with rolling pastures and 50 other bovines on the premises.
