A steer weighing approximately 1,000 pounds escaped its handlers at the State Fair of Texas on Monday and ran about a quarter-mile before it was corralled in the Midway area.
“He got spooked, and he got scared. And then he was in an environment that he’d never been in before, and so he got out in the open and made his way over, kind of out of his element for a little while,” said Daryl Real, vice president of agriculture and livestock for the State Fair of Texas.
The steer, which belongs to a Central Texas teenager, is at the fair to be shown in a 4H/FFA livestock competition this week, Real said.
The animal was being bathed in the cattle barn area of the fairgrounds when a loud noise scared it, causing it to run toward the Midway.
Several Dallas police officers and animal handlers chased after the steer, shouting to fair goers to stay out of its way as it approached the busy Midway, an eyewitness said.
The steer made contact with at least five people during its run, Real said.
One person, a fair employee, went to a first aid station for treatment after the ordeal, according to Real.
