He was almost dead meat.
Ricardo the Bull was saved from going to a slaughterhouse by a retired trucker who called police on his way to the scene.
Mike Stura, who owns Skylands Animal Sanctuary And Rescue in Wantage, NJ, got a message from a friend on Dec. 14 telling him that there was a “bull running down the railroad tracks in Newark.”
After looking up videos on social media, he hooked up a livestock trailer to his Ram pickup and charged toward Newark, texting his friend: “On my way,” he told the Washington Post.
The 57-year-old knew he had to get to Newark Penn Station quickly as the area was surrounded by plenty of slaughterhouses and he was worried about the animal being in an unknown environment.
As he drove to the train station, Stura — who has been vegan since 1995 — called police and asked: “Where is the animal now?”
Stura saw police barreled pass him on the roadway armed with tranquilizers and rope, he told the Washington Post. He said he had developed relationships with police forces in the area since he opened his sanctuary nine years ago.
By the time Stura arrived to rescue the bull, not only had Ricardo become an internet sensation while delaying the third busiest transit system in the U.S., but he had managed to get himself out of the tracks and into a fenced lot near a meat wholesaler, the DC-based paper reported.
After tranquilizing the bull and hogtying his legs, police helped haul the large animal into Stura’s trailer.
An officer named Ricardo — whom the steer got his name from — led the sanctuary owner to the bull and off they went to his new home.
Hours later, Stura shared a video of the sleepy bull waking up from the tranquilizer. Ricardo has now been at his new home for a week and seems to have adjusted, according to multiple videos posted to Stura’s Facebook page.
Stura said the bull had a “some scuffs” and “abrasions on his back legs” from his ordeal in the transit system. The longhorn is seen in some videos limping, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
The internet fell in love with Ricardo, who has since been made into a plush toy sold by the NJ Transit, and many have reached out to Stura offering help. However, the only help he asks for it supporters to go vegan.
The Post has reached out to Stura for comment.