PELHAM – When Houdini trotted away from her new owners last weekend, no one thought the cow would be in for the shock of a lifetime.

The cow’s owner, Wendy Bordeleau, said a Pelham Police officer inappropriately shot the animal with a Taser multiple times. She has asked Police Chief Joseph Roark to better train officers to deal with similar situations and demanded to see the computer data Tasers store regarding how many times it was fired.

“I want them to own up to their mistake, really, and admit that they really shouldn’t have reacted this way,” Bordeleau said.

Police said the officer was within his rights and had to consider motorists’ safety.

“In my opinion, it was a wise call,” Pelham Police Lt. Gary Fisher said.

Bordeleau said she bought Houdini and another 2-year-old cow recently and transported them to the Hirsch Farm on Mammoth Road on Saturday.

But Houdini got spooked, and before Bordeleau and about a dozen friends and family members could get her inside the roughly 30 acres surrounded by four strands of barbed wire fencing that serves as the cows’ pen, Houdini escaped and began a protracted romp through woods and yards across the road.

While Bordeleau and friends followed along and tried to herd Houdini back to her pen, several people called Pelham Police, and a number of officers, including the animal control officer, arrived, Bordeleau said.

“They were all around, but they weren’t actually helping,” she said. “They kind of didn’t know what to do.”

The group of amateur wranglers was about to begin walking Houdini back across the road and into her pen when one of the officers pulled out a Taser and shot the cow with it, Bordeleau said.

“We were all screaming at the officer to please stop, to please not Taser it,” she said.

The shock didn’t do much but annoy the cow, Bordeleau said, but once it was back within the farm’s borders, the officer shot it with the Taser three more times, she said.

“We feel like they Tasered it when it wasn’t about to harm anyone,” Bordeleau said. “It wasn’t doing anything dangerous. There was no immediate threat to anybody. We were just trying to get it where it belongs and they really overreacted, I feel.”

Police took a different view.

Fisher said police received a number of calls about the loose cow, including from neighbors and drivers. The officers had to make sure everyone, including motorists, was safe, he said.

“Route 128 is heavily traveled,” Fisher said. “We have to take into consideration the public that’s out there driving cars and motorcycles.”

This wasn’t the first time Pelham Police have used Tasers on an animal. Fisher said he remembers one German shepherd that, after being hit by a car, wouldn’t let anyone near it. Police used a Taser to incapacitate the dog and were able to get it to a veterinarian who saved its life.

Two years ago, police had to kill a cow that had gotten loose and was endangering drivers, he said.

“We have used Tasers on animals in the past and been very successful,” Fisher said. “It was an attempt before having to do anything more drastic.

“It’s a less lethal weapon. It’s not something that’s going to permanently harm the animal, in my opinion.”

Fisher said the department is looking into the incident. He said he doesn’t know which officer used the Taser, and it will be up to Roark whether Bordeleau gets the data on the Taser’s use.

“We’ll look into this further and see what’s going to happen,” he said.

Roark wasn’t available for comment.

Bordeleau said Houdini is doing fine. They were eventually able to put a halter on her and lead her back to her pen. Bordeleau said it’s hoped she won’t be an issue again, since two rows of electrical fencing were added to the barbed wire already in place.

“I guess we just really want people to know about the situation and that the police don’t handle things properly in this kind of instance,” she said. “If they can’t handle large animals, they shouldn’t.

“We would hate for another person’s animal to be Tasered.”

Joseph G. Cote can be reached at 594-6415 or jcote@nashuatelegraph.com.