A cow that broke loose from a livestock auction barn in Polk County, Florida, brought traffic to a standstill this week after wandering onto a busy highway during the morning commute.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said it began fielding 911 calls Thursday morning reporting a cow heading westbound on U.S. 92 at Fish Hatchery Road. "Caller advised that there is a cow that is loose and in the roadway," the office wrote in a social media post sharing the report, which first surfaced on the Instagram account Only in Florida.
Video of the encounter, which quickly circulated online, shows the animal charging directly into the side of a passing pickup truck before veering off down the road and scattering traffic in both directions. Drivers can be seen slowing and swerving as the cow trots down the center line, seemingly unbothered by the chaos it was causing.
By the time deputies arrived on scene, bystanders and auction staff had already managed to corner the runaway and walk it out of the roadway. The animal was returned without injury to Cattlemen's Livestock Auction, the barn it had escaped from, and no injuries were reported among drivers, bystanders or deputies. The sheriff's office did not say exactly how the animal first got loose from the auction grounds.
Florida's rural highways see a steady trickle of livestock escapes each year, from cattle trailers with faulty latches to spooked animals bolting mid-transport, and this week's episode was only the latest to be caught on camera by startled commuters. For now, the cow in question is back in the pen it started the day in, its brief taste of highway freedom over.