Dispute over wandering cow sparks court filing

The fate of a cow's life hangs in the balance this morning in Upper Darby.

Local animal activists have convened on the Madina Poultry, trying to save the life of the cow that momentarily escaped the slaughter house Saturday night.

Marianne Bessey, an attorney and member of Animal ACTivists of Philly, claims she made an agreement with an employee there last night.

For $800, Bessey said, the cow would live, sent off to a farm in Woodstock, N.Y. Bessey and activist Kim Slama arrived today at 9 a.m. but an employee balked, claiming he had to talk with his boss who was out of country, Bessey said.

"He claimed he would keep the cow alive if we had the money," said Bessey, who was involved with the campaign to get the elephants out of the Philadelphia Zoo.

The employee, who declined to comment directly to the Daily News, told Slama to cancel a trailer that was on its way.

After negotiations seemed to come to a standstill, Bessey left to file a civil complaint claiming beach of contract.

She later called 9-1-1 to report animal cruelty because she believed no one had opened the business to provide water to the livestock inside.

By 10:30, the employee and several men he convened with around the corner had left as customers arrived to find the business closed.

About noon, a trailer arrived and a woman with a pink lasso got out of the truck, but the building was locked.