Animal control officials had to shoot two cows Monday that escaped from the downtown sale barn after the cattle went on a rampage through parts of downtown, the University of North Alabama and west Florence.

City police and animal control officers started getting calls around 4:30 p.m. as the cows romped through downtown, nearly crashing into the vehicles of startled motorists.

Todd Nix, director of community services for the city, said the two black Angus cows escaped from the Tennessee Valley Stockyard.

Nix said euthanizing the cows was the only realistic choice.

"They were either going to run over somebody or cause a major accident," he said. "We're very fortunate nobody got seriously injured or killed.

"If you ever saw a collision between a cow and vehicle, it's very serious. The impact can cause the animal to come inside the vehicle, and it becomes a deadly situation."

The cows ran through some of the busiest downtown streets, including Court and Tennessee. One also was spotted at Seven Points and one at Carver Heights, Nix said.

Police, animal control and Lauderdale sheriff's officers patrolled the areas in efforts to reach the cows, and the cows apparently didn't like that.

"At least one police department vehicle was damaged and two animal control vehicles were damaged from them ramming it," Nix said. Officers were in the vehicles at the time. "One animal control vehicle was disabled.

"These cows were very, very aggressive and charged after people."

The animals made their way to the University of North Alabama and into west Florence, greeting some astonished residents and interrupting a neighborhood basketball game along the way.

"Some friends and I were shooting basketball and I heard, 'Watch out for that cow,' " Kayla Cherry said. "I thought, did I just hear him say 'cow?' "

Then she saw it coming down the street. "Everyone started running," she said.

A couple of blocks away, Willie Abernathy was washing his car when he heard something and looked up to see a black cow charging his way.

"It ran right at me," Abernathy said. "I had to run in the house to get away from it."

He said the cow was surprisingly fast. "I didn't look back, or it would have gotten me."

Nix said officers found one cow around Cleveland Street and killed it there. The other was killed near the W.C. Handy Recreation Center, a popular place for children.

"One cow was getting way too close to the Boys and Girls Club and Handy Rec Center," Nix said.

He said cow escapes occasionally occur, since the sale barn is nearby and there are 30,000 to 40,000 cows in Lauderdale County.

"You get a large animal like that, scared and running, and they just panic," Nix said. "It's a time bomb running around, and we're just thankful nobody got hurt."

He said shooting the cows with a dart gun to put them to sleep isn't a realistic option in cases like this.

"When you dart them, it scares them worse, and they run wildly," Nix said. "Plus, it takes about 20 minutes to take effect."

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com.