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High school students filmed chasing farm animal after ‘senior prank’ goes hilariously wrong

April 29, 2023 | | Print Article

A senior prank gone bad this Thursday morning in the Chicago suburb of Niles created “udder chaos” for a couple short hours.

According to various reports, students at Northridge Preparatory School sought to perform a senior prank by bringing several farm animals to the school.

However, one of the animals —  a feisty cow — escaped their grip and reportedly fled into a nearby neighborhood, creating quite a ruckus.

Watch a video below that one neighbor recorded of the students chasing after the absconding bovine:

According to local station WMAQ, the drama began to unfold right before 3:00 am Thursday morning, when the police were alerted to “suspicious subjects” hanging around near the school.

“Once at the scene, police said they encountered several Northridge Preparatory School students who were ‘apparently involved in what was described as a ‘senior prank’ by bringing live animals to the school,'” the station reported.

CBS News notes that the animals included a cow, a pig, and some chickens: “Police determined the students bought the cow and a pig on Craiglist. The pig was picked near Dixon, Illinois, and the cow was purchased near Winneconne, Wisconsin. Police said a student also brought chickens from home to the school as part of the prank.”

There was just one problem. While the kids were setting up the prank, the cow made a run for it and successfully escaped into a local neighborhood. Whoops.

It took several hours, but the police eventually caught the cow: “Around 9:15 a.m., police were seen on video wrestling the cow and capturing it. Police worked with Wagner Farms in nearby Glenview to secure the cow,” according to CBS News.

“We created a funnel out of fence panels to get it to the trailer, but we knew when it got there, that’s where it was going to get rough,” Wagner Farms director Jonathan Kuester told the outlet.

“It was not a happy animal. I mean, it had been chased around for I think about six hours until we got to it. It didn’t want to see any more people,” he continued.

Kuester added that the whole situation could have been disastrous for both the students and the cow, the latter of whom might have gotten hit by a car.

“It was tough enough for two of us who know how to work livestock to handle them. I don’t know how some high school kids thought they were going to do it. But I don’t think pre-planning was part, you know, what went into this,” he said.

Yeah, no kidding …

Speaking of the students, they were reportedly cited for curfew violation, disorderly conduct, animal feces accumulation, and prohibited animal species.

The school, meanwhile, has chosen not to pursue criminal charges as it conducts an internal investigation.

“The school is managing the cleanup and removal of any animals within the school itself,” the police reportedly said in an update Thursday.

In a statement, the school said a “prank went awry when a group of seniors lost control of a cow they intended to put in a corral they built in front of the school.”

“Unfortunately, the animal escaped, resulting in the cow roaming the community. The senior class is in the process of contacting the police department, city officials, and local residents to apologize for this incident. We can share on behalf of our seniors that they have secured a safe and appropriate home for the animal,” the statement reads.

“Northridge appreciates the work of Park Ridge, Morton Grove and Niles law enforcement and City officials in conjunction with Wagner Farms. We apologize to the local community for any inconvenience this event may have caused and will work internally to find resolution and accountability,” it continues.

The response to the prank has been mixed. Some have praised the kids for their alleged ingenuity, while others have called for strict consequences.

Look:

Vivek Saxena
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