Overnight, somebody pushed over the cow in front of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
An officer on scene said the anchors appear out of the ground, but it doesn't look damaged.
Dispatch is attempting to contact an extension representative.
UPDATE: Officer Ed Mileham was still on scene when I stopped by for a quick picture and he said last week, pranksters hit the extension, too. Somebody rearranged the lettering of the message board to read "Eat Meat July 2." The cover of that board is now held in place by a padlock. The cow was anchored only with tent spikes.
The moving letters around is
The moving letters around is a prank but pushing the cow over is vandalism. Idiots !
Poor cow...glad she wasn't
Poor cow...glad she wasn't hurt!
BTW, curious as to what the sign read before they changed it?
The cowards couldn't find a
The cowards couldn't find a real cow in Genesee county to "tip"?? (just joking of course) Probably afraid they would get kicked or step in a cow patty...wussies!
Well we can rule out PETA!
Well we can rule out PETA! lol Sorry!your right the cow pushed over is not right!
As the Executive Director of
As the Executive Director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, 420 East Main Street, Batavia, I'm commenting on behalf of the Board, Staff, volunteers, youth, and all program participants of Cornell Cooperative Extension - the outreach arm for Cornell University in Genesee County. In case you are not aware, our purpose is to provide research based knowledge addressing identified unmet needs in Genesee County - particularly Agriculture, Youth Development, Civic Engagement and Healthy Lifestyles.
Thanks for making this news. Regarding the sign 'prank' on Monday - it happened between 6 pm and 7:30 pm - so if you happen to remember seeing anyone near the sign at that time, please let the police know. Not only were the words changed, the culprits stole the letters. I know, shame on us for not locking the sign. The sign originally said 'Meat Animal Auction" promoting the 4-H event to be held during the Genesee County Fair.
As for the cow, we have experienced 'cow tipping' over the years. This cow was donated by Lamb Farms when purchased during the UMMC auction several years ago. It was repaired and repainted two years ago, needed as a result of the weather and previous 'spills'. When it was put outside again, it was intentionally anchored to the ground, to help prevent further damage.
This recent episode has cracked the cow. We will now have to decide whether to repair it (at a cost) or whether to just not put it back outside.
As small as it may seem, over the years, countless children and parents have stopped to visit the cow, to take a photo, and just enjoy the site of it in the yard of Cooperative Extension, whose origin and number one focus remains agriculture.
What I am more concerned about is the trend of these increasing acts (pranks or vandalism, call it what you will) that seem to be happening with more regularity.
Howard - thanks again for posting this on the Batavian - I can only hope that more people will start paying attention to what is happening around us, and notify the police. Only by becoming more concerned can we 'take back the streets'.
Beverly Mancuso
Executive Director
Cornell University Cooperative Extension Genesee County
Thanks for filling in some
Thanks for filling in some details, Beverly. I'm sorry to hear the cow was in fact actually damaged.
I helped push the broadcast
I helped push the broadcast booth off of the Stadium at Woodward Field one time after a big wind storm had pulled it loose from its anchors. Just as it went over the railing and onto the track we all saw the cops opening the fence for their cars. We jumped on our bicycles and headed for the far corner of the field where we abandoned them and crawled under a fence to get away. When we came back our bikes were gone and we realized the police were not as stupid as we thought they were. I was only about ten or eleven, but I knew what I was doing. I just didn't know why. The same thing might have happened to the people who tipped the cow. They lost their heads for one brief moment. They'll be caught without a doubt, just like we were. It's a good thing the Batavian wasn't around back then because it never made The Batavia Daily News or I would still be grounded forty five years later. I've got to get out of Mom and Dad's basement one of these days, but man I hate jobs.