St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — Six steers that ran amok on the streets of north St. Louis last week after escaping from a neighborhood slaughterhouse have a new lease on life — and a possible future grazing on the lush pasture of a Tennessee animal sanctuary.
The steers — including “Chico,” who dodged police and animal control officers during a dramatic five-hour bid for freedom that included a crash through an iron fence — were picked up Monday morning from the slaughterhouse, Star Packing Co., and taken to an area farm.
They had been waiting at the slaughterhouse in limbo since late Thursday as a stampede of sometimes-feuding groups tried to save them from slaughter after their recapture.
The infamous six will stay at an area farm for a couple of weeks before making the trip to an animal sanctuary. That will likely be a Tennessee property owned by The Gentle Barn animal sanctuary, said Gentle Barn co-founder Jay Weiner.
(And yes, Weiner says, the animals are steers — neutered males — not female heifers, as the meat packing plant repeatedly told media last week. The steers are less than 2 years old and have a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years, when not headed to a slaughterhouse.)
“They’re scared,” Weiner said of the animals after they were delivered to the St. Louis-area farm. “They’ve gone through a lot. But they are destined for good things.”
The Gentle Barn has animal sanctuaries in southern California and Tennessee. According to its website, the organization rescues animals from severe abuse and neglect that are “too old, sick, lame, or scared to be adopted into homes. The Barn is home to horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, llamas, peacocks, emus, cats and dogs who are allowed to live out their lives in peace.”
The Gentle Barn also works with disadvantaged children on its ranches, and uses animal husbandry as part of its therapeutic healing philosophy. So Weiner said the organization will work with the steers to ensure that they are comfortable with humans and can be cared for by youth and adults.
He said it is the organization’s intent to keep the steers for this mission either at its Tennessee farm or a new one. If that’s not possible, the cattle will stay together and go to another quality animal sanctuary, he said.
Their rescue came with the help of a crowd-funding page started by Adam Brewster of Chicago. As of Monday, Brewster had raised more than $16,500 to help the animals.
He said Monday he donated the money to The Gentle Barn to purchase all six of the steer for an undisclosed sum from the slaughterhouse and help transport them to their final location.
