You're standing on an otherwise unremarkable stretch of road
near a Boston Edison easement. There's nothing to see here now, but
back in late 1995 this area was the focus of international
attention.
Just down the road from you is the Arena slaughterhouse. It may
seem unusual to find a slaughterhouse in the middle of a suburban
neighborhood, but the Arena family was here years before the houses
were. Since the 1920s, truckloads of cattle have arrived at their
gates. The cows check in, but they don't check out.
Except for one. On November 14, 1995, a 1,600-pound cow named
Emily stunned her handlers by bolting from the line of animals
awaiting slaughter, leaping a gate and running into a field behind
the building. "A cow just can't do that," noted an article in
Parade magazine.
But Emily was no ordinary cow. Not only did she elude her
pursuers that day, but she managed to hide from public view in the
woods behind a residential community for nearly six weeks. It's
likely that she passed several times within view of where you're
now standing. As Emily's fame spread, attention turned from
capturing her to saving her. Locals left bales of hay for her to
eat. The story captured the attention of the national media. Emily
was profiled in USA Today and on the Today show. She became
the world’s most famous cow, and those are words you don't often
see together
Emily was finally captured in mid-December. She had lost 500
pounds and needed veterinary care, but she soon recovered fully.
The Arena family agreed to sell her for one dollar to a local
spiritual retreat, where she happily lived out the last seven years
of her life. Today, a statue stands in nearby Sherborn
commemorating her 40 days as a fugitive and the national attention
she brought to the cause of animal rights.
If you're interested in more, you can
find
articles about Emily on The Peace Abbey website. A statue has
been erected there in her memory (above). There is also
a puzzle cache placed there in her honor. If you just want to
find the cache, go for it. Park on the street at the listed
coordinates and walk about 400 feet to the site. We hope you
appreciate the unusual container.
Congratulations to
Ether Bunny for nailing the First to Find!