A cow made a glorious escape from an Idaho meatpacking factory this week, only to perish in a hail of police bullets.

The extra-large meat machine managed to escape his hamburger fate for a brief moment that seemed to last forever, an officer detailed, breathlessly one imagines, to local reporters.

"It was not a very long time, although when you have a thousand pound animal that's running in the streets it can sure seem like a long time," Police Lieutenant Ian Nelson told KPVI.

But the little guy's freedom in the great open concrete paddock was short-lived—five officers tracked the walking steak-frites through the streets, eventually shooting him three times "in the name of public safety."

Cops say he's now running around at a big farm upstate where he has lots of room to play and is having a great time, promise!