Cincinnati Freedom (c. 1995 – December 29, 2008), also known as Charlene Moo-ken, after Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken, was a 1,050-pound Charolais cow that gained fame when, on February 15, 2002, she leaped over a six-foot fence at Ken Meyers Meats, a Camp Washington (

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

)

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

, and escaped. After eluding the traps and tranquilizer darts of

SPCA A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

officials and police officers for 11 days, she was finally captured just after midnight on February 26 in

Clifton, Cincinnati, Ohio Clifton is a neighborhood in the north central part of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,408 in the 2020 census. The area includes the Ludlow Avenue Shopping and Dining District. Clifton is situated around Clifton Avenue, nor ...

. She lived out the rest of her life at

Farm Sanctuary Farm Sanctuary is an American animal protection organization, founded in 1986 as an advocate for farmed animals. It was America's first shelter for farmed animals. It promotes laws and policies that support animal welfare, animal protection, a ...

's New York Shelter in Watkins Glen,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where she was particularly popular with

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

activists and animal lovers. Finding a permanent home for her was a source of some debate, as most considered her no longer eligible for slaughter. The

Cincinnati Zoo The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the sixth oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875. It is located in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with in the middle of the c ...

declined to house her, citing health concerns and the possibility that she could not be safely contained. Jan Malley, a Northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

woman with a farm, was also considered as a possibility. In late March, however, artist

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

offered $180,000 worth of paintings to the SPCA for use at their next auction. In return, he took custody of the cow, whom he named to commemorate not only her dramatic pursuit of liberty, but the city into which she escaped. Cincinnati Freedom received the key to

, but didn't wear it during the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Findlay Market Opening Day Parade on April 1, 2002, as planned, because she was judged too jumpy and nervous to participate. She was brought to her permanent home at

Shelter on April 11, 2002, where she spent the rest of her life. She was reported to be doing well in the sanctuary and had apparently made a number of friends, including Queenie, a cow who escaped from a slaughterhouse in Queens,

, in 2000. In 2008, Cincinnati Freedom developed

spinal cancer Spinal tumors are neoplasms located in either the vertebral column or the spinal cord. There are three main types of spinal tumors classified based on their location: extradural and intradural (intradural-intramedullary and intradural-extramedulla ...

, an incurable and untreatable ailment in cows. She was euthanized on December 29, 2008."Cincinnati Freedom, the fugitive cow" January 12, 2009, by Will Tuttle
/ref>

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Mooovin' Along: The Official Chronicle Of The Cow On The Run"
WCPO.com, April 11, 2002 1995 animal births 2008 animal deaths Animal rights Individual cows Missing or escaped animals Individual animals in the United States