GANTINEAU, Quebec -- Police officers who shot two cows that escaped on their way to the slaughterhouse say they had to kill them because they were a threat to the public.
Video of police shooting one of the cows with a handgun on a rural road has received almost 150,000 views on YouTube. The owner of the cows reported them missing after they escaped from a truck at a stop light last week in Quebec.
Gatineau police spokesman Pierre Lanthier said Monday the cows charged police. Lanthier says it occurred near a primary school and says the cows could have killed a child.
He says the owner said he could not control them and gave police permission to kill then. He says the officers tried to get the cows back into the truck at least three times before shooting them.
