Riverside authorities were surprised to find a 3-day-old dairy calf in the backseat of Cesar Zamora Santana’s car on Wednesday.
Santana, 31, was standing next to his car when cops approached and spotted the 70-pound calf.
Santana proceeded to tell police that he bought the female calf at a gas station for $200 (because that sounds totally legit). When officers inspected the animal, they discovered the calf’s identification tags had been “forcefully” removed from its ears.
Police took Santana into custody on suspicion of possessing a calf without proper documentation, as well as an outstanding warrant for a narcotics violation. The cow was taken to an Ontario dairy farm, where it will be cared for until the rightful owner can be found.
RPD finds poss stolen Jersey calf in back of vehicle. 1 in custody. Owner sought. Call 951-358-7045. pic.twitter.com/WYBNymMKl0
— Riverside Police (@RiversidePolice) November 6, 2014
No one is really sure what in the hell Santana planned to do with the calf, but John Welsh, a spokesman for Riverside County Animal Services, told The LA Times that thefts involving dairy cows are “definitely more common than people think.”
