Baby Sheep Rescued On Gowanus Expressway
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An unlikely commuter stopped traffic on the Gowanus Expressway on Wednesday morning.
A little later, CBS2's Jessica Moore heard from the highway patrol officer who rescued a little sheep on the shoulder of the road.
Just call her the luckiest little lamb around, from dodging cars to relaxing in the arms of her state police hero.
Highway Patrol Officer Dominick Gatto said their relationship didn't start out so cozy this morning, as he tried to capture the cuddly runaway on the side of the elevated highway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
"It was running right at me and I didn't realize how fast it was. I tried to reach down and grab it as it coming close to me but it juked around me and just kept on running," Gatto said.
Photos started popping up on social media around 9:15 a.m., as drivers documented the four-legged on the shoulder of the highway near Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
"That's impossible, like, on the highway? I think it's crazy, not in New York City. I've never, ever seen that, not on a highway, especially," said Bridget Beran of South Ozone Park.
"That's a little wild. That's a blessing, to get away from this highway. Humans don't even get away from this highway," Felicia Devita added.
Officer Gatto said he drove his car ahead, cutting the little black sheep off at the pass. He then drove her to the Animal Care Center on Staten Island, where staff rewarded her with a new home and a new name.
"She seems young, definitely under a year," the center's Jessica Vaccaro said. "They named her 'Petunia,' probably because she's just as pretty as the flower."
So where did this lamb on the lam come from? Police said Petunia wasn't tagged, which means she probably didn't escape from a slaughterhouse.
"No idea where she came from. Her history is definitely a mystery, but she's certainly going to have a bright future," Vaccaro said.
A future at Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in New Jersey, a far cry from the mean streets of Brooklyn. It's the same sanctuary that took in the pregnant cow that was running around Brooklyn after escaping a slaughterhouse in December of last year.
