It all started when the urban mission group Kirkens Bymisjon tried to set up a special, living Nativity scene at the main town square in Drammen. The exhibit included a cow from a nearby farm, but just before the rather large animal was about to be tied up inside the stall, she spotted a chance to simply take off.
What ensued was a near comical chase through the town streets, up towards Drammen's venerable Bragernes Church, with the head of Bymisjon chasing after the cow. Morten Eriksson of the Søndre Buskerud Police District said his colleagues quickly responded to calls for help, but not even the police patrol managed to catch the runaway cow.
Cow power
"There's a lot of power in a good cow," Eriksson explained. "Even though our police officers pump iron, it's not easy for us to assume control over a cow weighing several hundred kilos."
The mission personnel were at a loss as well, so "we had to call in people who had better cow competence than we did," Eriksson said. That meant getting hold of the farmer who owned the cow. He eventually arrived on the scene and his experience with livestock allowed him to calm the cow and round her up.
The cow was finally cornered about a kilometer away from where she took off. There were no reports of damage along the way.
