Cow caught galloping through Illinois after escaping senior prank

The steaks for this senior prank were too high.

A steer broke free and ran through the streets of an Illinois village Thursday while a group of students tried to sneak it into their private all-boys high school, police said.

Video shows the animal galloping through Niles, which directly neighbors Chicago’s far northwest border, as a group of exasperated students attempts to corral it.

Roger Plummer told Storyful he spotted the fluffy brown cow making a break for it when he was arriving home from work just before 6 a.m.

“I looked and said aloud, ‘Is that a cow running down the street?’” Plummer said. “A group of young men were running and driving down the street in pursuit of the cow.”

The bovine was on the lam for several hours after the butchered prank before professionals were able to control it.

Niles police determined several students from Northridge Preparatory School were responsible for accidentally setting the animal loose.

“The students were apparently involved in what was described as a ‘senior prank’ by bringing live
animals to the school,” the department said.

The cow wasn’t the only animal involved in the boys’ prank, however.

The seniors purchased the cow and a pig off Craigslist, while another student brought his family’s chickens into their private college preparatory school.

Lucky for the boys, the school administration decided not to tan their hides and opted out of pursuing criminal charges.

They were hit with several ordinance citations, including animal feces accumulation-not permitted, prohibited animal species, curfew violation and disorderly conduct.

The Northridge Preparatory School is conducting its own internal investigation and is managing the cleanup and removal of any animals.

The cow, which hailed from Wisconsin, will spend the rest of its days living at the Hooved Animals Humane Society, a rehabilitation farm in Woodstock, Illinois.