There was a little cow-motion on Centre Street in Petrolia this morning.

Drivers were shocked to see a black cow being chased near Weiland Meats Thursday around 9:30.

Owner Bill Sipken says a farmer was delivering his cattle to the store to be butchered but didn’t back up quite far enough. The animal made a run for it. “If they see even just a crack they jump over the gate,” Sipken says.

“The farmer came into the store and said ‘My beef is out.'”

Sipken’s staff sprang into action trying to corral the animal. Lambton OPP were on hand to help as well as a number of bystanders. “There are so many good people in town who tried to help…it was a matter of trying to contain him because if that thing got out on the road in town, that could have been a disaster,” he says.

As it was, the runaway did have a fairly good jaunt. Sipken says staff tried to rein in the animal for nearly an hour. At one point he was running down James Street.

Weiland’s staff eventually rounded him up on Eureka Street. “We cornered him and lassoed him,” Sipken says. “He’s in the freezer now.”

Sipken can’t say enough about the help they received. “The police were fantastic and in a time like this, everybody kind of comes together to help.”