How did this poor bull end up on Bush Hwy? (Happy Ending!)

August 25th

Background: SRWHMG performs a scope of work under contract with the AZDA for the Salt River wild horses, but we also do much more, like our Road Patrol program. This is not required under our contract, but we have always done it anyway, for the safety of horses and people and lots of other animals!

Our volunteers basically drive up and down Bush Hwy without a destination, just to close gates people leave open, fix broken or cut fences, rescue stray animals, and report emergencies to authorities. We are there long before and long after authorities hours, and in numerous cases our presence has helped to save horses and other animals and also people’s lives.

So we want to commend our road patrol team for finding and rescuing this very sweet bull. He was directly on Bush Hwy on the wrong side of the fence, looking confused. But how did he get there? People have abandoned their animals in the TNF before (See Old Faithful post) but that did not seem likely.

So our volunteers stayed with the bull to keep him from the road, while others picked up our trailer. Our AZDA Liaison Makenzie inspected him and we then loaded him. It was dark and he was not excited to get in a trailer, but nevertheless, he arrived safely at our facility late at night.

We assessed his injuries and made him a comfy place to sleep for the night. He has a limp and lots of roadrash, but it does not appear detrimental. We started wondering if he had fallen out of someone’s trailer and we were hoping he had a loving owner somewhere because…

The state process for cattle is that after a 7-day holding period they have to be sold at livestock auction, so we were worried that he would end up as meat, and that we might have to bid on him to save his life. (Like we did to save Salty the bull)

After some investigating and scowering Facebook, we actually found a post of a very similar looking bull: this turned out to be the owners, and his mom had been worried about him all night!

Apparently, the bull had jumped out of a trailer when he was on his way to go see his girlfriend! They had raised him from a calf, which explains his sweet demeanor, his name is Henry. We are so happy to report that the owners proved ownership and that we brought him home the very next day.

We love happy endings, and if you do too, please consider donating just a few dollars to our small but effecient non profit-organization. While gas mileage is not a “heart- tugging” need, it is still an important need to keep our road patrol program going. Any help is appreciated!

Way to go SRWHMG Road Patrol Team!!