Runaway buffalo herd killed by farmer's "hired guns"

A herd of 15 buffalo that broke loose from a Rensselaer County farm Thursday were shot and killed by the farmers' "hired guns" today as police looked on, authorities said.

The buffalo created a remarkable scene through the Albany area: They apparently swam across the Hudson River, ending up on the eastern side of the river in the town of Bethlehem.

Then the buffalo were running through trailer parks, side roads and even crossed the state Thruway heading south -- perhaps toward New York City.

But at about 1:30 p.m. the herd was corralled by authorities, and the owner, George Mesick, apparently had hired a team to shoot the buffalo.

“It got to a point where we had to make a decision on what we were going to do with these animals as they continued to move and approach the area of River Road," Tom Gallagher, a specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, said at a news conference.

"And after we spoke with several state veterinarians, the decision was made that the family has the right to shoot the animals. It's not a decision that anyone at this table or anybody who we spoke with takes lightly, that was really a last resort.”

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple knocked how the farmer went about the situation, saying it turned into the "Wild, Wild West" with gunmen shooting through the woods at the buffalo. He was seen yelling at one man.

He said the police aimed to ensure that the safety of the public was not at risk. At one point, one of the gunman was detained by police because he wouldn't stop shooting, Apple said.

"We had shots being fired all over the place. It was not a safe scene," Apple said.

But Apple said the buffalo had charged at people and needed to be killed.

"The last thing we wanted to do was to put these animals down," he said.

Gallagher said the situation was complicated: You're talking about big animals that are not easy to take down.

“What we found is that even in the past trying to use tranquilizers, you have to use a very heavy dose to get the animals to actually be tranquilized and in a lot of cases it takes more than one shot," Gallagher said, "and these animals, because they have a thick hide, they’re not domestic animals, you’ve got to get within 30 feet of these animals to be able to even administer a tranquilizer.

“In this case, a tranquilizer wasn’t going to help the situation.”

(AP Photos/Mike Groll)