A North Carolina police department issued a grateful message to a group of sentient beings that refused to merely be bystanders as they sought to capture a criminal suspect.

The Boone Police Department related an arrest incident from Tuesday involving 34-year-old Joshua Russell Minton from Millers Creek in a release on its Facebook page.

Minton allegedly led police on a chase after they attempted a traffic stop and then he abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot through an "undeveloped area" in Deep Gap.

"Due to the suspect’s fast and reckless driving our officers were not close enough to see exactly where the suspect ran," police said.

That's when their efforts to find Minton were assisted by an "unexpected" source: a herd of cows.

"Apparently cows do not want suspected criminals loitering in their pasture and quickly assisted our officers by leading them directly to where the suspect was hiding. The cows communicated with the officers as best they could and finally just had the officers follow them to the suspect’s location," police said.

Minton faces several charges related to the incident, including one count of felony eluding arrest with a motor vehicle and disorderly conduct. He is expected to appear in court in June and was given a bond of $20,000.

The police department offered their gratitude to the crime-fighting cows and said they were considering "incorporating a Bovine Tracking Unit" into their law enforcement capabilities.

"How adaptable are cows to a variety of police work or can they just find hiding suspects?" they asked in the post. "Are cows more cost effective than K-9 dogs?"

Herd of cows assisting in arrest is ‘pretty cool,’ police saywww.youtube.com

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