On November 15, a local agent was saved from mayor injuries during a bull attack in Burjassot (Spain). The policeman did not suffer severe bull horn injuries. Although it was a serious attack. This was due to the fact he was wearing a ballistic vest.
The events occurred in the afternoon when the Burjassot Police was called for assistance. One of the animals in the local abattoir, a huge bull weighing about 500 kilos, had escaped.
Attempting to sedate the bull
The Burjassot Police decided to look for a way to put down the animal with the least suffering possible, but the abattoir veterinarian stated that he did not have anesthetics available.
The agents refused to kill the animal and looked for a municipal veterinarian, who immediately agreed to collaborate and prepared four darts with ketamine, a drug used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize horses and cattle.
The Burjassot City Council has had an anesthetic rifle for years after three tigers from a circus from their cages and ended up wandering the streets in 1997.
After a first shot with the anaesthetic rifle missed, the next dart hit the bull’s chest. The veterinarian suggested to wait a few minutes before firing the next dart, so that the ketamine could take effect. But this was not the case. The animal, after a slight display of daze, began a mad dash towards the fence. The agent fired a second dart that hit the animal’s neck but this didn’t stop it either.
Escape
The bull crushed without any resistance the perimeter fence of the abattoir and ran towards the nearby agricultural fields, which led to a hunt for the bull in which the chief and five other agents participated.
Two police vehicles tried to cut off the animal’s path as it was heading towards an urban area. As the night was falling the chances were to lose sight of the raging bull.
At a certain moment, the bull turned sharply and ran towards the policeman who was following him on foot.
As the policeman had no place to hide in the open field, he pointed his service weapon at the animal and fired. However, the shots did not bring the bull down. The bull caught up with the officer in a few seconds, hitting him and rolling him to the ground.
The head of the Local Police who stood closest to his partner opened fire and was joined by the other four officers while the bull continued charging and kicking the policeman who had fallen on the ground.
Finally, after have received around thirty shots, the animal collapsed in the middle of the crop field. At first the policemen thought that their colleague died in the attack, as he was laying completely still in the field.
Saved by the vest
The wounded officer was instantly taken to a nearby hospital in Valencia. Medical test results showed the attacks had not caused fractures and that none of the attacks from the horn had penetrated his body.
The attacks from the bull’s horns were aimed at the thorax of the policeman, which was protected by an EnGarde ballistic vest that all local Burjassot agents wear. The only wound from the horn is in a wound in one of the police officers hands.
The bull was cremated after the attack, since the use of anesthetic darts with ketamine prevents the meat from being sold for consumption.
