Cow news

The local morning newspaper reported a cow in custody in the vehicle impound lot. According to the Pioneer Press story, the cow, bolted to a trailer, was abandoned in the street in the 1400 block of East Como Boulevard. The cow was hauled into the impound lot by a tow truck. A police spokesman said that the trailer has no registered owner.Regular viewers of this space will no doubt recognize that cow. I have published images of that fiberglass beast several times in the past.

My first reaction was that "abandoned in the street" is cop talk for someone complained, a squad went by and checked the trailer, found it to be unlicensed, and chalked the trailer tires. 48 hours later the trailer had not been moved and was towed. My stronger reaction was that this story is a reflection of how far the Pioneer Press has fallen from the time when it was an actual newspaper. Apparently they no longer have a city room and apparently they no longer have editors or staff who have any sort of corporate memory of what has been considered newsworthy in the relatively very recent past.

Last year after the State Fair the cow's owner reported it as missing. The missing cow report was reported as news by, most prominently, the Pioneer Press. As reported at that time, the cow (apparently named "Blackie" by its owner) is an annual entry in the Minnesota State Fair's daily parades. The cow disappeared in early August 2010 while it was hitched to a truck near the owner's home. It was found in November in rural Minnesota and returned.

The afternoon update on the newspaper web site confirms the details. I am required to note that the newspaper update identifies the cow as an "Angus" which is a beef cow even though even the most citified of cow observers will identify the fiberglass cow as very, very clearly a Holstein, a dairy cow.

The police confirm that prior to the towing there were complaints about the cow being parked on the street. The owner was away from home for a few days and when he returned the cow was gone. His attempt to regain possession of his $22,000 cow is complicated by the fact that the trailer is not registered. And further complicated by the fact that even after ownership is established the individual claiming the cow will have to pay towing fees and storage charges which already amount to more than $600.

That's all the cow news I have for today.