A Cal Expo official said fairgrounds police shot and killed an agitated, pregnant cow the morning of July 27 after she got loose while being taken to the UC Davis-run livestock nursery at the state fair.

Brian May, deputy general manager, said the cow bolted twice through the fairgrounds over a 1½-hour period starting at about 9:30 a.m. On one run, the 1,200- to 1,500-pound cow knocked over a bicycle-riding police officer.

The fair had not yet opened, but, by the time police put down the cow, at about 11 a.m., hundreds of employees had begun showing up — making the cow a threat to public safety, May said.

Today (July 28), the director of the university’s William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital called for a review of animal use and handling procedures for all animals intended for public exhibition at the fair.

The hospital director, David Wilson, who is a veterinarian, also asked UC Davis’ Veterinary Emergency Response Team to develop a plan and training module for public safety officials who may deal with unrestrained large animals at public venues like fairgrounds, and on roads.

Wilson said the tragedy did not make him rethink the livestock nursery exhibition, which he said will continue through the fair’s last day Aug. 1.

He spoke today by cell phone from Cal Expo, in a midday interview that took place around the same time that a small group of people gathered outside the main gate to protest the birthing exhibition.

Connecting the public to the world of food

Wilson defended the nursery, which is now in its 34th year.
“It’s a very popular exhibition,” he said, noting that fairgoers — and young people in particular — may not have many other opportunities to see and interact with livestock.

“It brings the whole world of food, and where it comes from, closer to home,” he said. “It also recognizes the fact that the fair was established as an agricultural exhibition.”

Answering critics who object to putting livestock on display while they give birth, Wilson said: “The animals for the most part take it all in stride, and are very well cared for.”

He added that the exhibition not only serves as a training ground for veterinary students, but inspires future vets as well.

Read more about the livestock nursery in this Dateline feature from 2006.

Wilson said the nursery brings in 25 to 30 cows a year for the birthing display. That works out to a total of 850 to more than 1,000 cows over a 34-year period — “and this is the first time a cow escaped.”

'Fighting to get over the barriers'

The cow bolted the first time while UC Davis veterinarians unloaded her from a trailer, May said. The veterinarians and Cal Expo police corralled the cow in a tunnel near the main gate.

Veterinarians calmed her some by giving her food, Wilson said, but she got away again.

This time, police and veterinarians corralled her in the area of the Golden One concert stage. “She was fighting to get over the barriers that we were using,” May said.

Fearing for the health of the fetus, the veterinarians at first opted against using a tranquilizer gun on the cow. Then, when they opted to use the tranquilizer gun, it would not fire.

The fair was still an hour away from its noontime opening. Nevertheless, employees, vendors and exhibitors made the fairgrounds a crowded place.

Therefore, Cal Expo police, in consultation with UC Davis veterinary staff, decided to put the cow down, May said. He said three officers fired their handguns; the fetus died along with the cow.

Wilson said “very, very rapid action” possibly could have saved the calf's life, but the circumstances were not conducive to such a surgery, especially with the fair’s opening just about an hour away, Wilson said.

“Obviously, we're in a caring profession and the last thing we want to do is see an animal euthanized,” he said. “Every attempt was made to handle this differently, and those attempts were unsuccessful.”

"We made a very difficult choice," Wilson said. "It was absolutely the last resort.”

Wilson told The Sacramento Bee that he does not suspect that the incident stemmed from any missteps in procedure, but added that officials will review those guidelines to look for improvement. Fair officials promised similar reviews, according to The Bee.

Cow had been screened for good disposition

Vic Lukas, campus veterinarian, said the cow belonged to a San Joaquin Valley farmer, who had loaned the animal to UC Davis for the livestock nursery exhibit. Wilson said the cow had been screened for good disposition — in the same screening process that UC Davis uses for all animals in the livestock nursery exhibition.

Wilson said the cow did not behave in a manner that is typical of pregnant cows, but added that any domesticated animal has the potential to react violently when threatened.

“If they get into a frenzied situation where they want to escape, they will charge fences, they will charge people,” Wilson said. “So people can be badly injured or killed even by a cow.”

Lukas said the cow’s pregnancy may have had something to do with her agitated state. He said three UC Davis veterinarians witnessed the incident, and one of them reported seeing signs of milk fever, a pregnancy-related calcium imbalance that can affect the brain.

“That and the excitement of the fairgrounds may have contributed to the cow’s agitation,” he said. “Fortunately, the cow did not hurt anybody.”

Professor John Madigan, director of the Veterinary Emergency Response Team and associate director of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital’s large-animal clinic, said: “Loose cows or horses in crowded public places can threaten public safety.

“We must ensure that our animal handling procedures are designed to minimize the risk of animals escaping into public areas and that plans are in place for an effective and humane emergency response in the unlikely event that a large animal does escape.”

Madigan noted this year’s Fourth of July tragedy in Bellevue, Iowa, where two horses stampeded and killed one person and injured more than 20 people. The horses had been pulling a carriage in the town’s Independence Day parade.

This is an example of the risk and potential for injury that can result when livestock and horses are loose in public places, Madigan said.

Pat Bailey, a senior public information representative with the UC Davis News Service, contributed to this report.