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Stewie, the 4-month-old calf that escaped New York slaughterhouse, gets cow clemency

A runaway cow named Stewie that escaped a slaughterhouse this week and then was caught on video roaming New York City streets is getting a pardon.

The four-month-old calf seen wandering around South Brooklyn streets on Tuesday now gets to spend its life at Skylands Animal Sanctuary in New Jersey, local TV station ABC 7 reported.

Stewie was first spotted near East 96th Street and Avenue L, ABC 7 reported, after it escaped a vehicle outside a slaughterhouse in Canarsie, a southeast Brooklyn neighborhood.

"The people from the slaughterhouse, they were trying to lasso it and get it into the truck, but she was feisty, she didn't want to go," Vincent Fontana, owner of Original Pizza told the outlet.

Video taken by the pizza shop's employees shows the calf trotting the streets. In it, people are seen chasing the cow, trying to get it to stop running.

Eventually, the calf was rounded up and put back into the vehicle.

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A plea for salvation

In a post the next day on Facebook, the Wantage, N.J. sanctuary pleaded with followers to contact Saba Live Poultry, where it said the calf was being held, and ask them to release the cow into the sanctuary's care.

In an updated post, the sanctuary said the business' owners agreed to let the calf live at the shelter after a number of supporters flooded the company with calls.

Mike Stura, who runs the Skylands Animal Sanctuary, told ABC 7 he called the slaughterhouse which was initially hesitant to give the sanctuary the cow but later agreed.

The sanctuary, which dubbed him "Stewie," has him quarantined awaiting test results, Stura said on a Facebook Live session.

"Even slaughterhouse workers over the years that have given me animals, much bigger animals than this one, and have taken a much bigger financial hit … have said to me that they're happy the animal came with me," Stura said. "They are happy to see one live."

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stewie the calf that escaped slaughterhouse, sent to animal sanctuary