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Boorish Behavior

DW staff (jam)May 19, 2008

Fifteen cattle on the loose overran part of a small town in western Germany. One bull broke away from the group and made a house call, bursting into a home and tearing up the living room before being let out the door.

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Live free or dieImage: picture-alliance / united-archives/mcphoto

It was a scene out of the Wild West, with stampeding bulls out of control and nary a cowboy in sight--although one family could have used one.

As the cows ran through yards and fields, one individualist went his own way, crashing through a closed patio door and into a home, where he proceeded to act like a bull in a china shop, leaving destruction in his wake.

"The animal basically did a tour of the hall, the kitchen and the living room before leaving the building," Paul Kemen, a spokesman for police in the city of Aachen told Reuters. "It came in the back and went out the front."

While the bull laid waste to furnishings, no family members were injured. The animal left after the owner of the house opened the front door for it, perhaps sensing he had overstayed his welcome, but not before causing an estimated 10,000 euros ($15,600) worth of damage.

But the steer paid dearly for his brief joyride; he was shot by a hunter before he caused any more harm.