A “highly aggressive” 1,300-pound bull was euthanized Monday after escaping from a farm and charging onto Interstate 495 where it caused a multi-vehicle crash that left a driver hospitalized, Raynham police said.
At approximately 9 a.m. Monday, town police received multiple 911 calls about a “large black bull” running down Jennings Drive near Elm Street East, officials said. Callers warned the bull was “highly aggressive.”
Workers at nearby Mathieu Farms had been attempting to load the bull onto a truck that was headed to a slaughterhouse when the animal became enraged and broke free, running through several fences on its rampage, officials said.
“The bull ran through multiple fences, including electrified fences, and jumped over a 6-foot-tall berm to escape,” town police said.
The animal ran onto I-495 causing a crash involving three vehicles in which “one driver was transported to a local hospital for their injuries,” police said.
From I-495, the bull fled into the woods of Elm Street East and ran into Lake Nippenicket where it was confronted by officers and farm staff, police said. Undeterred, the bull “quickly and aggressively swam toward the group on shore” prompting an officer to shoot at the bull, they said.
But the bull kept charging. An officer fired several more shots, finally disabling the creature by striking it in the leg.
“After being disabled, the bull needed to be humanely euthanized; however, the rifle that the officer was using was not powerful enough,” police said.
The owner of the farm euthanized the bull with his hunting rifle, police said.
The farm owner and staff had previously advised officers to put down the bull rather than capture it due to its aggression, police said.
“I want to commend our brave officers who put themselves in harm’s way to make sure that a bad situation did not get worse,” Raynham Police Chief David LaPlante said. “Facing a charging 1,300-pound bull is not something you go into your shift thinking is going to happen.”
Sabrina Lam can be reached at sabrina.lam@globe.com.