Report Finds Corralling Runaway Cow Wasn't Cheap
Wanda, a runaway cow caught in Milford in December, cost taxpayers $5,000.
For months, a cow on the lam eluded authorities and made headlines for its feistiness. Apprehending Wanda, a young angus, wasn’t cheap. An investigation by the New Haven Register revealed that the total cost spread was nearly $5,000 split across several towns and the state.
Milford, where the cow was found, reportedly bared the brunt of the cost by spending nearly $2,500 on staff and supplies. State employees were paid $1,800 in overtime for the hunt.
Wanda escaped a farm in Orange and turned up in Milford last summer hanging out with a herd of deer near Gulf Pond.
A team of animal control officers and animal rescuers finally corralled it in December and subdued the cow with a tranquilizer dart and transported it to a farm in Oxford. Officials say the animal will not be slaughtered and will live out its life in peace.
grillmaster
7:44 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
Bill the owner who didn't want it back or make hamburgers. We've spent more on worse.
CuriousOrange
8:38 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
This was a phony crisis. A snowstorm or a riot would justify overtime spending. But a cow that bore no threat to life and limb? Why the big deal? Were they afraid some teenagers were going to tip it over? Or lead it up some belfry stairs? (Cows will go up but not down stairs.) Who's running this city, anyway!