Several cows were spotted running loose in the mainlanes of the North Freeway in the Spring area on Monday. RodeoHouston officials said they were coming from NRG.
HOUSTON — Several cows got loose Monday afternoon in north Harris County, causing a big traffic backup.
One cow was seen on Houston TranStar cameras dodging people and vehicles that were trying to corral it. Air 11 then got over the scene and several other cows were seen roaming the area.
The cows evaded several vehicles in the main lanes of I-45 at Spring Stuebner Road. One of them was seen jumping the median to get to the other side of the freeway. The cow eventually made its way off the freeway and out of sight for the cameras.
According to RodeoHouston officials, a trailer was transporting 31 cows when it broke down. Six of the cows got loose.
According to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office officials, a vehicle that was transporting several livestock animals broke down and the cows got loose. That was just before noon. As of 12:45 p.m., at least one of the cows had been cornered and people were working to get it into a trailer. By about 4 p.m., all cows had been accounted for.
The incident caused a significant traffic backup in the area. Both sides of the freeway were backed up for several miles. Around 1 p.m., traffic started moving again.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Terry Garza, one of the cows was hit by a vehicle. Also, Garza said a vehicle was overturned although it’s unclear how it happened.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who posted to social media around 1:15 p.m., three cows had been caught and two northbound lanes of I-45 had been reopened.
Gonzalez said the HCSO Livestock Unit responded to the scene to help catch the cows.
Garza also posted a video of one of the cows being placed back into a trailer.
Earlier this month, a cow got loose at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Video showed the cow running away from the rodeo gates as people chased after it.