By Canadian Press

Four runaway cows in Quebec caught in covert operation and returned to thankful owner

Dec 19, 2022 | 12:10 PM

QUEBEC — An official with Quebec’s farmers union says it took a covert operation and the help of fresh snow to round up four cows from a herd of cattle that have been on the loose for months in central Quebec.

Martin Marcouiller, president of the regional chapter of the Union des producteurs agricoles, says the four runaways were reunited with their owner in St-Sévère, Que., about 130 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Marcouiller says the farmers union kept Saturday’s operation quiet so that curious onlookers wouldn’t compromise the plan, adding that not even the owner of the animals was in the loop.

A herd of cattle escaped from a farm last July and have wreaked havoc in farmers’ fields, and all previous attempts at capturing them failed — including a valiant effort by a group of cowboys from a nearby town.

Marcouiller says union members lured four of the heifers into an enclosed feeding area that had been set up to capture the animals in St-Sévère, adding that fresh snowfall reduced the heifers’ food, leaving them desperate and hungry.

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He says the union will attempt another operation in the coming days to capture the remaining seven or eight animals on the lam.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship. 

The Canadian Press