'Senior prank' goes wrong as a cow goes hoofing through neighborhood and creates 'utter chaos'

A senior prank on April 27, Thursday, went horribly wrong when a cow went on the hoof through north suburban Niles for hours, reports CBS News. A video shot by a neighbor showed a loose cow trotting down the road as a group of as students ran after it. According to the Niles police, the students were from Northridge Prep School and were "apparently involved in what was described as a 'senior prank,' by bringing live animals to the school."

The students were said to have bought a cow and a pig on Craiglist. The pig was picked near Dixon, Illinois, and the cow from near Winneconne, Wisconsin. Police added that a student brought chickens from home to the school for the prank. However, the cow escaped and created a ruckus throughout the neighborhood.

Although the animal was originally thought to be a cow, it was later said to be a steer- a male bovine that has been castrated. But eventually, a wrangler said that the animal was a female and was a heifer - a young cow that had not given birth.

The whole incident apparently began to unfold around 3:00 am when the police were alerted to "suspicious subjects" hanging around near the school, according to the local station WMAQ. As the police reached the scene, they found several students, who were involved in the prank, reported BPR. Three police departments, the Niles Park District and the wrangler were all at the scene. Police were able to capture the cow after wrestling with it around 9:15 am. 

The department worked with Wagner Farms to secure the cow. Jonathan Kuester, director of Wagner Farms, said: "We created a funnel out of fence panels to get it to the trailer, but we knew when it got there, that's where it was going to get rough."

The cow was taken to Hooved Animal Humane Society in Woodstock, Illinois. "It was not a happy animal," said Kuester. "I mean, it had been chased around for, I think, about six hours until we got to it. It didn't want to see any more people." He added that the situation could have become dangerous for the students and the cow. "It was tough enough for two of us who know how to work livestock to handle them. I don't know how some high school kids thought they were going to do it," Kuester said. "But I don't think pre-planning was part, you know, what went into this."

Police confirmed that the students were cited for curfew violation, disorderly conduct, animal feces accumulation and prohibited animal species for creating such a situation. However, the school administration refused to pursue any criminal charges against the students.

Roger Plummer, the person who captured the video of the cow, said that he was on the way home from his work at WBBM Newsradio when he saw the cow. "When I looked up, I thought, 'Is that cow running down the street?'" Plummer said.

He said that he also saw half a dozen young men running behind it. "I yelled out, of course, 'Why is a cow running down the street?'" Plummer said, adding that someone told him, "'I'm sorry sir, sometimes things like this happen.' I've never seen a cow run down my street, and I hope to never see one again."