Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 27, 1995 TAG: 9506270046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's mostly just carelessness on the part of the people bringing [the livestock] in," stockyard Manager Eddie Stevens said. "In the last 12 months, probably 35 or 40 thousand head of cattle have gone through here, and three have gotten away. They just happened close enough together that everybody remembered."
The latest incident, on the morning of June 19, involved a 1,300-pound Holstein cow and a 500-pound calf, owned by Edwin Z. Markham of Goodview and delivered to the stockyard by Sherman Chattin, also of Goodview, Chattin said.
The animals were two of nearly 400 sent to the yard by cattle farmers for that afternoon's weekly auction.
"Basically, the cow and a Guernsey calf got loose and [the cow] was mean," Botetourt County Animal Control Officer L.S. Wine said. "She was aggressive and would come after you."
The cow eluded handlers, got out of the stockyard, crossed Route 11 and fled into a wooded area.
The agitated cow remained at large until it was struck and killed by a car driven by James Collins, 63, of Troutville, in Route 11's southbound lane at approximately 2:45 a.m. on June 20. Collins, who has a heart condition, was transported to Roanoke Memorial Hospital and his 1980 four-door Oldsmobile was listed as a total loss.
"I thought it was a hiker off the Appalachian Trail at first," Collins said. "All of a sudden, the figure stepped into my lane of traffic. I swerved around the little cow and struck the big one."
There were conflicting reports about when the calf was recaptured. The stockyard manager and animal control officer said it was captured quickly; state police said the calf was seen with the cow early the next morning.
Other than confirming that he had delivered the cows, Chattin declined to comment on details of the incident.
Trucks delivering animals to the stockyard pass through an outside gate and are supposed to back up to one of two loading docks, Stevens said. Gates can be chained to the sides of the truck to prevent escape by forming a chute leading directly into the stockyard. In this instance, he said, those gates were not in use and the animals bolted through the gap between the truck and the stockyard's chute.
"Sometimes [the animals] try and jump off the truck," Stevens said. "If [the owner's] got a bad one, they're supposed to come tell us so we can make sure the holes are covered and [the animals] can't get away."
Stevens stressed that the stockyard has the proper facilities to handle aggressive animals, but that all the safeguards in the world won't work if the handlers don't use them.
"It's happened a few times before in the last few months," Stevens said. "Once a large bull got away from the trucker and broke through the fence ... The other time, a cow more or less ran over the trucker and got out."
The first cow's escape also resulted in an automobile accident, Wine said, adding that both animals had to be destroyed.
"They leave that outside gate open continuously," Wine said. "All three animals have been extremely aggressive and caused major havoc. So far we've just been very lucky that no one's been seriously injured or killed."
by CNB