A group of loose cattle that escaped from holding pens at Will Rogers Memorial Center Tuesday night entered the city of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, officials say.
David Reeves, director of sales at Will Rogers, said 44 roping steers escaped from their pens that evening (Sept. 8) while handlers with the United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC) National Finals show were moving the cattle.
They darted out an open gate, he said.
Reeves said most of the cattle — 37 of the 44 — were captured on the grounds of Will Rogers Memorial Complex, which is fenced. However, seven steers left the property.
“They headed toward, I think, the McDonald’s and then across and into the neighborhood to the North,” Reeves said.
Fort Worth Police say one of the locations the animals were at was the intersection of Montgomery and West Seventh streets. Between the officers and USTRC staff, all the loose cattle were contained by around 1 a.m. Wednesday, Reeves said.
Though Will Rogers is home to many events that involve large numbers of cattle — more than 2,700 cattle were used at last year’s National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity, for example — Reeves said the animals don’t often manage to escape the property.
“The last time that we’ve had any cattle escape was when we had the Mexican rodeo back about four years ago,” he said. “That’s the last time we had, and it was a couple of roping steers that time.”
Officials say no one was hurt and none of the loose cattle were harmed.
