manifest destiny, no doubt

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:24 a.m. April 27, 2005

PIKESVILLE, Md. – A herd of buffalo that got loose and wandered around a well-to-do neighborhood won't be causing any more trouble: Their annoyed owner plans to pack them off to the slaughterhouse.

The 10 or so beasts disrupted traffic and alarmed homeowners Tuesday before officers managed to corral them on a tennis court. More than a dozen police cars and a police helicopter were used to herd the animals.

"The way I feel right now, I'm giving them all away," owner Gerald "Buzz" Berg told The (Baltimore) Sun. "They're going to the slaughterhouse."

Officers using outdoor lounge chairs as shields formed a human chain to corral the beasts, but one buffalo was seen leaping over a net on the tennis court to evade capture.

Berg, who owns a Baltimore demolition business, has raised bison on his 40-acre farm for about 10 years, mostly for meat.

Police spokesman Shawn Vinson said Wednesday that no charges were being pursued against Berg, who said he did not know how the animals escaped. A week earlier three bison got out through an unlocked gate but stayed close to the farm, Berg said.