Earlier I speculated that the new Animal Taser would not incapacitate ananimal long enough to make it useful. I thought of 3 possible outcomes if you found yourself tasing an angry bull:

  1. Channel your inner-olympian and run like the wind. But since that bull was only down for about 3 seconds and is now insane with anger I think you are pretty much a dead man.
  2. Stay attached to the bull and keep shocking it until the batteries, and you, die.
  3. Operant Conditioning. Let the bull get up and start to charge you, yell “NO!” and then shock him again. Repeat this process until batteries run out. When the bull charges you again, yell “No!” If it worked he will associate your yelling “no” with the shock and will leave you alone for a while. If it didn’t work he will stomp you into the ground.

It turns out there was an option 4. Or maybe an option 2.b, Shock the bull “again and again” until it dies!

The Associated Press

Stray Cow Killed by Deputies’ Tasers

SPOKANE VALLEY — A cow that wandered into traffic near a freeway shopping mall was killed by Spokane County sheriff’s deputies who repeatedly stunned it with a Taser.

“We’re not cowboys. I don’t believe we have any rodeo champions on staff,” spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said of the deputies decision to repeatedly “zap” the animal Wednesday after efforts to restrain it failed.

The cow was among three that escaped from a nearby field near the Spokane Valley Mall. Two of the bovines were quickly recaptured by their owners, but one avoided capture for about four hours, eventually trotting onto a freeway ramp.

State law requires deputies “to do whatever you can do to keep somebody from dying as a result of collision with a cow,” Reagan said.

The cow was cornered by deputies about 11 a.m. between the mall and Interstate 90.

Several deputies who had seen a video of a Brahman bull being incapacitated by a Taser decided to stun the creature and tie its legs with a long leather strap ordinarily used to restrain kicking humans.

But the cow recovered before the strap could be used (emphasis mine) and deputies then zapped the cow “again and again” and the animal died, Reagan said.

No charges are pending against the cow’s owner. Thanks to Shayne for the Taser update!