A cow in Poland pulled hero-like stunts to escape when it was on its way to the slaughterhouse. The cow is currently living alone on an island and is traumatized by the incident, attacking anyone who comes near her.
The animal's heroic deed took place last month when she refused to get into a lorry that would take it to be killed for meat. The cow smashed a metal fence before taking a dive into nearby Lake Nysa in south Poland and swimming to one of the islands in the middle of the lake.
The cow's owner, Lukasz, tried to get it back to the farm, but the determined animal broke one of his worker's arms, Polish news site Wiadomosci reported.
All of Lukasz's attempts to bring back the cow failed, and he eventually gave up the hope of getting it back. Instead, Lukasz began to make sure that it was fed enough to stay alive.
Firefighters used a boat to get to the island where the cow went. The deputy commander of the fire brigade in Nysa — Pawel Gotowski — said the animal was healthy but frightened. Gotowski said the cow was so scared that they could not get closer than 70 meters to it, The Independent reported.
A vet was called in to tranquilize the animal, but they told Lukasz they had run out of gas cartridges, and it would take several days to get new ones. The farmer, however, still wants to get the cow back as he can make money by selling her.
The story of the escaped cow has captivated the nation. A political leader in the town of Nysa, Czeslaw Bilobran, stated that the cow will live out its life in peace. Another local politician and former singer Pawel Kukiz offered to save the "hero cow" in a Facebook post.
He said: "If all citizens could show such determination as this cow then Poland would be a much more prosperous country."
He added: "I am not a vegetarian, but fortitude and the will to fight for this cow's life is invaluable. Therefore, I decided to do everything to cause the cow to be delivered to a safe place and in the second stage, as a reward for her attitude, give her a guarantee of a long-term retirement and natural death."
A local zoo reportedly said it would happily take the cow but is unable to do so because European Union rules state zoos can only keep "approved" animals.
