Moohunt: Runaway cow captures German hearts
Associated Press
BERLIN
A runaway cow named Yvonne is on the loose in Germany and the manhunt — or moohunt — for the Bavarian bovine has captivated the country.
The freedom-loving cow ran away from a little farm in Bavaria in May and has managed to hide successfully in the forests of southern Germany ever since — despite her sturdy 1,500-pound figure.
Residents there have reported a few sightings of the brown dairy cow with the white head, but every time search teams have tried to capture her, Yvonne had already hoofed it from the area.
A helicopter equipped with a thermal camera used in search-and- rescue missions returned recently empty-handed.
Searchers have tried to lure Yvonne into the open with food, with the bellows of her son Friesi and her sister Waltraud, even with a prospective mate named Ernst. Scores of volunteers have combed upper Bavaria’s woods for her.
The 6-year-old animal would have never made national headlines if it hadn’t been for a near-collision with a police car days after she broke away. The rural district office in Muehldorf reacted by labeling the big-eyed bovine a public danger and ordering her shot on sight.
That prompted animal-rights activists to rally to her defense.
A Facebook page calling for Yvonne’s rescue had more-than 23,000 “likes” recently, and Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, has offered a (euro) 10,000 ($14,369) award on its front page for anyone who helps find Yvonne.
In the wake of all the attention, the order to shoot Yvonne has been suspended.
A Bavarian animal sanctuary has bought Yvonne from her former owners — sight unseen, of course — and is taking the lead in trying to rescue her. “We’re hot on her tail,” it reported recently.
Meanwhile, a song by band Gnadenkapelle has become an instant radio hit.
“Why don’t you leave Yvonne alone, she’s only a runaway cow. ... You wild cow, don’t let them take your freedom,” they sing.