Bull Attacks and Injures New Jersey Woman; Police Shoot It

Bull Attacks and Injures New Jersey Woman; Police Shoot It
A stock photo of cattle (Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
3/12/2019
Updated:
3/12/2019

A woman was injured after she was attacked by a bull in northwestern New Jersey.

According to the New Jersey Herald, Wendy McDermott, the owner of the bull, said that the animal had been “highly aggressive lately.”

Police officers in Sparta, New Jersey, were forced to put the animal down, according to the report.

Sparta police on March 8 said they received several calls of a bull on a road approaching vehicles. McDermott was told about the bull, and she called the police saying she was en route to try and get the bull back inside its enclosure with food.

The bull then followed McDermott’s vehicle up a gravel road toward her farm as an officer followed her.

An officer observed the bull bump into McDermott’s vehicle and tried to climb on it several times.

McDermott then exited her vehicle and tried to get her bull through the gate, but then the bull turned on her before attacking her, according to the Herald. The bull threw her around.

She then began screaming, saying the bull needed to be shot as it would kill her.

“It actually mounted the hood with his front legs,” Sparta police Lieutenant John Lamon told 6ABC about the incident. “The bull was probably 1,100, 1,200 pounds.”

Officer Arlene Lippencott, who was on the scene, distracted the bull before McDermott was able to get into her patrol car.

Other patrol units and a first responder arrived on the scene. The bull tried to charge a patrol vehicle, and it was put down by two officers who opened fire, 6ABC reported.

“The bull started charging at our sergeant’s car, and one of our officers had to put the bull down,” Lamon said. “She was screaming that the bull needs to be shot.”

McDermott was taken to Newton Memorial Hospital to be treated for injuries, adding that she got stitches to her head as well as lacerations and bruises.

The woman said her husband was recently attacked by the bull.

One neighbor said the bull acted friendly toward him.

“I saw this young bull, and many cars pulled over were trying to protect him,” said the neighbor, 6ABC reported. “He was very calm. People were petting him on his head...I had cereal in my car, believe it or not, and I fed him out of the passenger side window.”

French matador Sebastian Castella performs a pass on a bull during a bullfight at the Maestranza bullring in Sevilla, on Sept. 28, 2013. A debate has opened up in Spain about whether children should view bullfights on television, according to an Oct. 9, 2013 article in The Local. (Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty Images)
French matador Sebastian Castella performs a pass on a bull during a bullfight at the Maestranza bullring in Sevilla, on Sept. 28, 2013. A debate has opened up in Spain about whether children should view bullfights on television, according to an Oct. 9, 2013 article in The Local. (Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty Images)

Do Bulls Get Angry When They See Red?

According to LiveScience, bulls are actually color-blind, and therefore, don’t get angry when they see the color red.

“The bull is likely irritated not by the muleta’s color, but by the cape’s movement as the matador whips it around. In support of this is the fact that a bull charges the matador’s other cape—the larger capote—with equal fury,” according to the website.

Adds Mythbusters, “Turns out, the color red isn’t what causes bulls to attack. In fact, bulls don’t seem to have any color preference at all. They'll charge whichever object is moving the most, which means this old myth can get tossed right out of the ring.”
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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