Mastic Bull Rescuer: ‘It’s A Waiting Game’

MASTIC, NY — The bull that escaped a slaughterhouse in Manorville on Tuesday continued to evade rescuers late into Thursday night.

“It’s still status quo,” said rescuer John DiLeonardi, an anthrozoologist from Long Island Orchestrating for Nature. “It’s a waiting game.”

The 1,500-pound bull broke through a fence at a farm in Manorville where it was to be slaughtered as part of a Muslim holiday celebration. Suffolk County police received the first report that the animal was blocks away in the neighboring hamlet of Mastic at about 8:30 a.m. It was later spotted in Shirley, and part of Sunrise Highway had to be shut down while police and animal advocates tried to wrangle it to safety.

The rescue attempt was unsuccessful, and rescuers eventually decided to bring in a cow to lure the animal from its hiding spot out into the open, but that also did not work. From there, it was decided to reduce the number of people at the site and supply corn and grain baiting stations, but that tactic also failed.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday the bull remained on the lam while rescuers took shifts watching.

DiLeonardo said that he has worked on other bovine recovery operations before and they often go quickly but that sometimes it takes a while, like in this case, though he is not worried that the bull would not come around to accept the help of rescuers.

Right now, all that is required is a little patience as the bull becomes comfortable, he explained.

“We are animal rescuers,” he said. “We are experts at patience.”

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Once recovered, the bull will be checked out by a veterinarian and will be taken to a sanctuary in New Jersey where it will live out its days in peace.

For DiLeonardo, there is also a larger issue than the individual bull — the killing of animals for consumption.

He said that he hopes that everyone following the stories about the bull, which have now reached the national level, takes notice and ponder the scenario on a larger scale.

“If they are rooting for this bull, it’s important for them to think about the others, and maybe think about taking them off their plate,” he added.