Police fail in efforts to cow bull

SANDY — A 2,000-pound bull was shot and killed by police Wednesday after it ran loose for nearly 90 minutes near State Street.

The animal got away near 8600 South about 12:20 p.m. when two neighborhood dogs started barking at the bull as it was being loaded into a trailer, Midvale Police Sgt. Steve Shreeve said.

In the parking lot of an industrial area near 8750 South and 200 West, police thought they had the animal boxed in near a fence. But Aaron Wallace, who works nearby and was reared on a farm with cattle, said he could tell immediately they were in trouble.

"I wasn't sure their idea was good," he said.

The bull charged at officers, some of whom tried using Tasers, Wallace said. The electrodes fired by the guns "bounced off" the animal and seemed to only make it more agitated, Wallace said. At that point, it wasn't going to be stopped, he added.

"It was a bull, and it was definitely agitated," he said. "Once an animal has lost its mind, it'll pursue you. It would do whatever possible to get away."

The bull ran to State Street and eventually into a back yard near 8700 South, where it was cornered. Police officers from Sandy and Midvale made several unsuccessful attempts to calm the animal and move closer with portable fencing.

"That's a lot of weight. Our main concern was a car or pedestrian would be hit," a risk officers determined was too great when the bull charged down State Street, Shreeve said.

Wildlife officers were called, but the bull continued to charge at officers. After obtaining written permission from the owner to put the animal down, and with the risk to officers and area residents only getting greater, officers shot the bull.

Connie Hubbard, who lives nearby, said at least three shots were fired. The wounds slowed but didn't stop the animal, which again ran down State Street to an area near 8500 South where it was shot again about 2 p.m. It died a few minutes later and taken away by its owner.

Sandy animal control officers Wednesday afternoon were trying to determine who owns the dogs that frightened the bull and how the dogs managed to be loose. Pets are not allowed to run free at any time under Sandy's animal control ordinance.

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