This article taken from The Plaquemines Parish Web Site locate here:
Cattle Rescue
By SSG David Strobel
22 Sep 05
A cow wandered across the baseball field behind Belle Chasse High School. But this cow wasn’t lost or abandoned. She was watched over by Senior Airman Desiree Wright of the New Mexico Air National Guard. “She needs a scrub, but that’ll stress her out,” said SRA Wright. “Dirty and happy is better than clean and stressed.”
SRA Wright knows farm animals, and that’s why she volunteered for this duty. “I grew up on a farm in Belen, so I’ve been around ‘em long enough to know. This cow is extremely stressed out. And you can see she has a cut on her side.” Earlier that day, the state veterinarian was at Belle Chasse High School and SRA Wright asked him to take a moment to examine the animal. “He looked at her and said she’d be fine, just let her heal on her own. She’s eating, drinking, and has plenty of grass and shade.”
“We named her “Homerun” since we’re keeping her on the baseball diamond,” said MAJ Thomas Gonzales, the executive officer for Task Force New Mexico. When MAJ Gonzales heard of a cow that needed a temporary home, he said she could stay and become the unit’s mascot.
Local professional wrangler Stephen Menard had rescued the cow. “I ran across that cow down by Empire bridge, where everything was a disaster,” said Menard. “She was out loose and I roped her on foot.
Captain Rick Maloney, with the Middlesex Sheriffs Office, watched the rescue. “He asked us for a rope. We got one out of a destroyed hardware store.” A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Maloney said he has never seen an example of roping with his own eyes. “He (Minard) did a great job. One shot and he got it. But I think he’s done this sort of thing before.”
Homerun isn’t back with her owner yet, but she is one step closer. Lori Wilson, director of “Rescue Ranch,” a non-profit Belle Chasse organization that takes in at-risk children and animals, picked up the cow Friday night, along with local cattleman Gary Hess. “I go to the parish meetings. That’s how I heard about this cow needing a place to stay.” Hess has 180 acres and can keep up to 150 head of cattle.
Wilson said she would try to return the cow to her owner as soon as possible. “In the mean time, she’ll be safe.