Comedian Jon Stewart and his wife Tracey came to the rescue of a bull on Friday, April 1 and no, it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day prank. After the couple heard about a runaway bull who was running amok on the streets of New York City, they jumped into action.
The frightened animal had somehow escaped from the Archer Halal Live Poultry slaughterhouse in Jamaica, Queens. Stewart and his wife, who are both staunch animal rights advocates, volunteered to transport him to a safer place.
Officials tell The New York Times the black and white Angus was spotted in Queens and eventually corralled at York College, where students snapped pictures and took videos, becoming a hit on social media. After 30 minutes of freedom, police managed to corral the bull.
Following its capture, the bull was taken to the Animal Care Centers of NYC in Brooklyn, where staff members began collecting money with the purpose of purchasing the animal from the cattle rancher who planned on slaughtering it. The bull, who was christened with the nickname “Frank Lee,” a nod to Alcatraz escapee Frank Lee Morris, was spared for no charge.
Later that afternoon, the Stewarts arrived to transport him to the Farm Sanctuary’s shelter in Watkins Glen, New York.
The Stewarts also operate a 12-acre Bufflehead Farm in Middletown, New Jersey. In an interview with Rolling Stone last October, they spoke about their animal sanctuary, saying: “Our hope is to get a lot of school groups in. If everyone did a bit more, if they fell in love a little bit more, so much could happen. It doesn’t have to be going vegan. You can advocate for them. You can show tenderness. You can play music for them. I really hope people can connect with animals the way most of us did as children.”
