(UPI) The last of eight bulls that escaped Sunday from a rodeo in Massachusetts was recaptured near the place where the saga began, firefighters said.

The North Attleboro Fire Department said on social media that the bull, one of eight to escape a rodeo at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, was captured late Monday night.

The bull had been located near the town's Walmart in the evening Monday, sparking a chase involving the fire department, North Attleboro Police, Attleboro Police, Massachusetts State Police Air Wing, Mass Environmental Police, the New England Rodeo, animal rescue groups and volunteers.

"I have to say I've never went out looking for a lost bull. This is one for the books," Samantha Beckman with Wandering Paws K9 told WBZ-TV.

The bovine took off running from Walmart, leading pursuers on a chase that came to an end on Route 1, near the Emerald Square Mall, where the bull was lassoed and loaded onto a trailer.

The circumstances of the eight bulls' escape remain under investigation.

The escape earned a sharp rebuke from animal rights group PETA.

"When bulls, who can be quite manageable and even gentle when not provoked, get the chance to escape being shocked with electric prods, wounded with sharp spurs, and slammed to the ground in rodeos, they take it as anyone else would," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement.

"Rodeos put animal torment at center stage, and PETA urges people everywhere to stay away. Meanwhile, these bulls deserve to live," Reiman said.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International