Running of the Bulls in Pennsylvania?

Last week was the final week of the country fair in Harford, Pennsylvania.  Every year they have a special show, which this year was a rodeo.  One evening, as the bulls were being loaded onto their trailer, four of them escaped.  Three were caught quickly but the fourth went on a lively tour of the whole fair.

The place was packed on a warm, but not hot, summer evening.  Families enjoying rides, fair food, animal exhibits, music.  It was ideal, until people began screaming that there was a bull loose.  Well, I can imagine how frightened this animal was.  All these people screaming and running for cover, the loud speaker announcement that a bull was loose and everyone should seek shelter or leave the fairgrounds, kids screaming on the rides, loud music everywhere, and where to go in all the aisles and lights and noise.  The poor thing ran up and down aisles, past booths (one of which was full of decorative glassware), and everywhere looking like a trap.

At one point the bull went behind a candy stand where the people had parked their camper.  He gored a hole in the camper and wrecked their license plate, before he managed to get past the chain link fencing. 

Finally, some men directed the bull into an exhibition hall and slammed the door on him.  Cowboys backed the trailer up to the door and loaded him without further incident.

Several people were hurt in the melee, some when they dove for cover, but one lady in a scooter chair had to be flown to the hospital and later was sent home. Thankfully, she'll be okay.   I'm afraid I see lawsuits in the rodeo's future, but seems to me it was just an accident impossible to predict.

If you're ever in northeastern PA around the third week of August, you ought to stop in to see the Harford Fair.  It's one of the best little country fairs you could hope to find, and it isn't usually anywhere near this exciting.