"Chico" (center right) rests with five other steers in a barn in St. Louis County on Monday, April 3, 2017. The steers escaped a slaughterhouse last week and ran through the streets of St. Louis for hours until they were corralled. Chico had extended time on the lam after he busted through a iron fence and eluded police for hours. Chico was given his name by a crowd of onlookers. A crowd-funding campaign was set up to rescue the cattle from the slaughterhouse and now all six cattle have a temporary home in St. Louis County. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
"Chico" (center right) rests with five other steers in a barn in St. Louis County on Monday, April 3, 2017. The steers escaped a slaughterhouse last week and ran through the streets of St. Louis for hours until they were corralled. Chico had extended time on the lam after he busted through a iron fence and eluded police for hours. Chico was given his name by a crowd of onlookers. A crowd-funding campaign was set up to rescue the cattle from the slaughterhouse and now all six cattle have a temporary home in St. Louis County. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Steers rest in a barn in St. Louis County on Monday, April 3, 2017. The steers escaped a slaughterhouse last week and ran through the streets of St. Louis for hours until they were corralled. A crowd-funding campaign was set up to rescue the cattle from the slaughterhouse and now all six have a temporary home in St. Louis County. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Steers rest in a barn in St. Louis County on Monday, April 3, 2017. The steers escaped a slaughterhouse last week and ran through the streets of St. Louis for hours until they were corralled. A crowd-funding campaign was set up to rescue the cattle from the slaughterhouse and now all six have a temporary home in St. Louis County. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Three steers are corralled by police into a fenced area off of North 21st Street after a total of six cattle escaped from a slaughterhouse in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The other steers were corralled by police at two different locations. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A pair of police officers try to corral a steer after it burst through an iron fence at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse around 1 p.m. and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through the fence. The steer then led police on a more than a mile long chase and was finally caught more than 2 hours later. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A police officers keeps an eye on a steer after it was corralled for a second time at Sensient Colors in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse around 1 p.m. and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through an iron fence at Little Sisters of the Poor. The steer then led police on a more than a mile long chase and was finally caught more than 2 hours later. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A steer runs around a pair of police vehicles trying to corral it in alley after it burst through an iron fence at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse around 1 p.m. and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through an iron fence at Little Sisters of the Poor. The steer then led police on a more than a mile long chase and was finally caught more than 2 hours later. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A steer runs towards a crowd of people after it burst through an iron fence at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse around 1 p.m. and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through the fence. The steer then led police on a more than a mile long chase and was finally caught more than 2 hours later. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Police and slaughterhouse workers try to corral a steer in a fenced-in area at Sensient Colors in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through an iron fence at Little Sisters of the Poor. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A steer runs to escape the police after they corralled it in a fenced in area at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis on Thursday, March 30, 2017. A total of six steers escaped from a slaughterhouse and were chased through the city by police. Police thought they had all the cattle contained in fenced areas when this steer was able to escape by barreling through an iron fence at Little Sisters of the Poor. The steer then led police on a more than a mile long chase and was finally caught more than two hours later. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Six steers that ran amok on the streets of north St. Louis last week after escaping from a neighborhood slaughterhouse have a new lease on life — and a possible future grazing on the lush pasture of a Tennessee animal sanctuary.
The steers — including Chico, who dodged police and animal control officers during a dramatic five-hour bid for freedom that included a crash through an iron fence — were picked up Monday morning from the slaughterhouse, Star Packing Co., and taken to an area farm.
They had been waiting at the slaughterhouse in limbo since late Thursday as a stampede of sometimes-feuding groups tried to save them from slaughter after their recapture.
The infamous six will stay at an area farm for a couple of weeks before making the trip to an animal sanctuary. That will likely be a Tennessee property owned by the Gentle Barn animal sanctuary, said Gentle Barn co-founder Jay Weiner.
(And yes, Weiner says, the animals are steers — neutered males — not female heifers, as the meatpacking plant repeatedly told media last week. The steers are less than two years old and have a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years, when not headed to a slaughterhouse.)
“They’re scared,” Weiner said of the animals after they were delivered to the St. Louis-area farm. “They’ve gone through a lot. But they are destined for good things.”
The Gentle Barn has animal sanctuaries in Southern California and Tennessee. According to its website, the organization rescues animals from severe abuse and neglect that are “too old, sick, lame, or scared to be adopted into homes. The Barn is home to horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, llamas, peacocks, emus, cats and dogs who are allowed to live out their lives in peace.”
The Gentle Barn also works with disadvantaged children on its ranches, and uses animal husbandry as part of its therapeutic healing philosophy. So Weiner said the organization will work with the steers to ensure that they are comfortable with humans and can be cared for by youths and adults.
He said it is the organization’s intent to keep the steers for this mission either at its Tennessee farm or a new one. If that’s not possible, the cattle will stay together and go to another quality animal sanctuary, he said.
Their rescue came with the help of a crowdfunding page started by Adam Brewer, a St. Louis native currently living in Chicago. As of Monday, Brewer had raised more than $16,500 to help the animals.
He said Monday he donated the money to the Gentle Barn to purchase all six of the steers for an undisclosed sum from the slaughterhouse and help transport them to their final location.
Brewer said he came under pressure from the animal-rights group Farm Sanctuary, which demanded the owner of the slaughterhouse donate the steers to a sanctuary. The group opposes the purchase of animals for rescues, accusing slaughterhouses of charging inflated ransoms on animals and further supporting the for-profit slaughter of animals.
Brewer said Monday he decided the most efficient and easy way to keep all six steers together was to arrange a quick purchase through the Gentle Barn.
“I just really want to separate our cause from theirs,” he said of Farm Sanctuary.
Weiner said he flew to St. Louis to oversee the transfer of the steers along with Brewer. He said the steers were penned together at the meatpacking facility and were clearly frightened, breathing deeply and backed into a corner.
The steers were taken to an area farm and unloaded into stalls to help calm them further. There were plans to later let them out into a field to graze.
There was some doubt the cattle would stay together. On Friday, Kelly Manno, the initiator of another crowdfunding site supported by Kelly Backes, wife of former St. Louis Blues captain David Backes, thought she had negotiated the $1,800 purchase and delivery of Chico to a private farm in Lincoln County. She had directly witnessed the capture of Chico on Thursday and said she felt compelled to save the renegade animal.
But Manno waited in vain Friday night for delivery of the animal. In text exchanges with the owner of the slaughterhouse, she was told all the steers would be spared and remain together.
She said Monday she was disappointed that Chico never arrived but was delighted the animals were saved and were going together to a sanctuary. She said she has already decided to donate her $2,738 in crowdfunding donations to the Gentle Barn.
Nancy Cambria
Nancy Cambria is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
