It's the craziest lasso effort yet: An escaped bull is finally caught on Auburn city streets after running nearly full speed for four miles--the bull finally lassoed by two experts in their field. One cowboy rides shotgun in a cop's patrol car, using a lasso from an open window, while a second ropes the animal from on top of a speeding police cruiser that's pacing the bull.
If you want it done right, get a cowboy. It you want it done flawlessly, grab two--and they'll grab that loose animal in ways you never expected.
Description of the scenario may not seem too unusual. All kinds of animals have gotten loose and caused havoc on city streets, before the animals' capture. But it's the resolution that's unique.
Yeah, these guys in Auburn, Washington, are talented. No, not the cops -- though, in this case, the local Auburn Police Department does deserve credit for choosing the right man for the job -- and credit for knowing that one of their own was not that man. One police identified their need, they identified their cowboys. Lucky for everyone, it was a good i.d.
Calling in experts was a smart call -- and a very different one than another state law enforcement agency made just two months ago: A Washington state trooper literally shot a pig in the head in May 2011 after his roping skills proved lackluster. And after the Washington trooper Tased the pig. Multiple times. When the stun gun failed, the officer shot the pig in the head. The officer's reasoning for shooting the pig: The owner told him to do it. Then there was that related problem: the now-dead animal weighed about 500 lbs. The hog's carcass was lifted by tow truck, and carted home to its owner -- for a meal that surely turned out to be less happy than 'a pig in mud' after the animal's adrenaline rush during the chase.
Move past the video's rather dull intro that leads up to the bull-roping and final capture. There's a lot of footage of a running bull...and more of a running bull. But the video finale is an amazing one that won't be replicated any time soon -- as one WA cowboy on video lassos a moving bull from inside a speeding police car as a second roper rides the hood. The roper from inside the moving car expertly throws a lasso that crosses the police cruiser's hood and rings the bull's neck, right on target -- despite the fact the moving bull is actually on the driver's side of the cop car. A second cowboy sits atop a speeding police cruiser, roping the bull from on top of the moving patrol car's hood.