Loose cow ties up Atlanta interstate traffic for an hour

A single cow held up traffic for about an hour near Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday after falling out of a livestock trailer.

According to the Dunwoody Police Department, the cow was first reported running on the I-285 highway around 9 a.m. on Saturday. Officers were able to capture the cow with the use of rope provided by a civilian and returned the cow to its owner.

WSB-TV reports that at one point, three lanes of the highway were closed due to the animal, though traffic returned to normal about an hour later.

This morning, officers responded to a cow running on I-285 in Dunwoody. It was determined the cow fell out of a trailer and began running down the interstate. With the assistance of a citizen with a rope, Officers were able to safely capture the cow and get it back to it’s owner. pic.twitter.com/xWiZ0zi5lC

— Dunwoody Police (@DunwoodyPolice) April 3, 2021

There was a report of a crash in the area, the station reports, however it is unclear whether or not the cow was involved in the accident in any way.

“Traffic was moving a little. Cars were slowly getting by. Then all the sudden this cow comes running around the corner with a gentleman chasing him,” Michael Gerbick, a witness to the event who was heading to work, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I was surprised when I saw it, but I guess it is Atlanta.”

The newspaper notes that this is not the first time a cow has affected traffic in the Atlanta area. Beginning in 2018 there were three separate traffic incidents involving cows in a 5-month span, in which several dozen cows ended up dying.