A cow escaped a slaughterhouse and hid for 40 days

Minutes before she was to be killed at a slaughterhouse in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, a three-year-old, 1,600-pound heifer named Emily cleared the five-foot gate and ran. She stayed loose for 40 days through record snowfall in the winter of 1995, foraging in backyards and, at times, running with a herd of deer.

Local people took her side, hiding her and feeding her, even as police were ordered to shoot her on sight. When she was finally caught she had lost 500 pounds. The slaughterhouse had priced her at $350, but a family named Randa bought her for a dollar and brought her to the Peace Abbey animal sanctuary on Christmas Eve.

Emily lived there another eight years as a symbol of animal rights and vegetarianism - she even served as a bridesmaid at a couple of weddings - until uterine cancer killed her in 2003. Her grave is marked by a life-sized bronze statue, set between figures of Mother Teresa and Gandhi.

Previously:

• Heifer hoofs it from meat plant, dodges SUV, train, murders 2,000

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