Davie may be a western-themed town, but students weren’t prepared for cows to be spotted at multiple locations on Nova Southeastern University’s main campus on March 26. While unnoticed by most, the word traveled quickly through the student body throughout the following month and the cows gained celebrity status, even earning themselves a mention on NSU’s Wikipedia page.
Preston Sawicki, a sophomore marine biology major, was a student who managed to capture a photo of the two cows outside of the Mako residence hall in the early hours of the morning. Sawicki said that at first, he thought he might be seeing things.
“At first, I saw people running from the direction of the parking garages, and I didn’t think anything of it even though it was a Saturday at 7 a.m. because people are always running. Then, I just see a white and black blur hop over the curb, and I thought it was a cow and I thought I was crazy,” Sawicki said.
As he continued to walk towards Mako hall, he watched as the cow ran towards the building and jumped over the plants that border Mako circle. Just as the shock settled in, he watched a second cow follow in its footsteps.
“They didn’t seem to be maliciously following people trying to get into Mako hall, they just seemed to be more interested in the people. It was kind of like a dog and it’s like, ‘Oh, where are we going now?’ They just sort of follow along out of curiosity,” Sawicki said.
The cows camped out in front of Mako hall until public safety and Davie police officers were able to escort them off the premises. Public safety was not able to confirm where the cows were returned to.
Shane Lam, the associate director of field operations for the department of public safety, noted that he was unsure where the cows came from. He said that they were first spotted by the Autonation field by students and that public safety was quick to respond.
However, he said that with any instance of a wild animal or an animal that is not supposed to be on campus, public safety works closely with the Davie police department and animal control to make sure that the animal is safely removed. Lam explained that shortly after the cows were located by Mako residence hall, they were escorted off the premises by officers. Whether it be cows, cats, raccoons, possums or all of the above, public safety’s first point of contact is Davie animal control.
