Runaway cow on NYC highway taken to NJ farm

WANTAGE — A runaway cow that wound up on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx now bears the highway’s name at its new home in New Jersey.

The Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue of Wantage was called in when the calf got loose around 11:30 a.m Tuesday. The NYPD lassoed the cow, now named "Major Deegan," off the highway near Yankee Stadium heading south, and initially brought it to a police facility in East Harlem.

Police told ABC 7 Eyewitness News it's not known how the cow got onto the highway.

Skylands founder Mike Stura described the cow as a "wild little new kid" who wasn't easily caught for the trip to its new home.

Animal Care Centers of New York spokeswoman Katy Hansen told the New York Times the cow was "very stressed" and kicking at the air as cars passed. Four farm animals — two goats, a lamb, and a cow — have appeared on New York streets in the past 10 days.

Most were sent to Skylands; one of the goats went to Jon Stewart's Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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