KENT, Conn. — No one can keep a Scottish Highland bull in the cold hills of western Connecticut for more than a month after it got out of its pen. It has become the talk of the town.
Lee Sohl, Kent’s animal control officer, said that people have seen them occasionally, including a few times in the last week. It was seen not far from the town line in New Milford not long ago.
“People keep seeing it, but they don’t know that people are looking for it,” Sohl said Thursday over the phone. Someone calling me about a report gets my attention. I tell the owner, and they do their best. They go outside right away and try to get to it. It’s hard, though. It’s hard and scary in this weather.
Many people have tried to catch the bull, but its owner, Jo Ann Joray, said they haven’t been able to.
People who have seen the bull have shared photos of it on social media. The photos have gotten a lot of different kinds of comments, from people who feel bad for the bull to people who think it’s cute to someone who says it would make good steaks.
There have always been stray farm animals in the area. Sohl said that cows, horses, and goats sometimes get free.
She said, “That’s just where we live.”
The bull’s story made me think of Buddy the beefalo, a bison-like animal that got loose in the woods of central Connecticut in 2020 and 2021 and roamed there for months before being killed. Buddy was caught in the end and taken to an animal shelter in Florida.
A group in Scotland called the Highland Cattle Society says that Scottish Highland cattle are a tough breed that can live outside all year. The Connecticut bull will be happy about that because it has been below-freezing for several days.
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