Cow on I-79 causes big traffic backups in western Pennsylvania
By Elena LaQuatra, Kalea Gunderson
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CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A cow was rescued from the median of I-79 near Cranberry Township in Butler County Wednesday morning.
Sky 4 was over the scene where the cow somehow got into the median on the interstate near mile marker 81. State Police said several people reported seeing the cow around 7 a.m.
Traffic was backed up for about two miles approaching the area while police remained at the scene.
The news alert reached the right person, local farrier Kyle Carson.
“I decided this morning before I was going to go to work … I was like, well, I might call and just see if they need a hand,” Carson said. “The crews there had traffic stopped, and we sat there for a little bit and just kind of assessed the situation and let the cow relax a little more and just hang out. And then I just rode right up here and roped her and then took her over to the trailer.”
Carson said shortly after 10 a.m. he was able to rope the cow and get her loaded safely onto a trailer. He was relieved, noting this could have ended much differently.
“My cattle and livestock have just always been a part of my life, and that’s why it’s important to take care of them when they need taken care of and that was a situation that she was put, not just in danger herself, but mainly putting people in danger and a lot of them. So it was important to go get her caught.”
While this wasn’t his first rodeo, the irony of the highway rescue was not lost on him.
“The funny part about this whole thing is that my horse, his name is Highway,” Carson said.
State Police were able to confirm with local farmers that she doesn’t belong to them, but she was taken to a local farm and is receiving veterinary care.
How the cow got loose on the highway is still unknown.
“We do not have owner information or know where the cow came from. Local farmers confirmed it does not belong to them,” state police told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
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