Police capture escaped emu spotted running around Brockton

Animal control officers in Brockton captured a pet emu named Mallory who escaped from an East Bridgewater enclosure Thursday night and went on a joy run through city streets.

Brockton police said calls started coming in around 9:30 p.m. after witnesses spotted the large flightless bird, which is native to Australia, running in the area of Pine Street and Perry Avenue.

Emus are the second-fastest running bird on Earth and can reach speeds of up to 30 mph. They can also grow as large as 6 feet tall and over 100 pounds. 

A few witnesses managed to capture the unusual sight on video. Witness Larry Myers shared a video on Facebook showing the emu running down the road as he films from his car. The bird is then seen meandering into a Metro by T-Mobile parking lot.

“You can’t make this up! An ostrich in Brockton!” Myers wrote in the post. 

Another witness, Paige James, shared a video with Boston 25 News showing Mallory wandering around a paved area. 

The emu’s owner Lee Flaherty told ABC that the bird likely jumped a 6-foot fence after getting spooked by an animal.

“She ran all the way up to the intersection and cut into the field. I got up to her at the field, and I was walking with her there, but she wouldn’t come to me. She was terrified,” Flaherty said. 

Animal control officers managed to wrangle the bird with a blanket about an hour after calls came in. Police told local media that the emu was safely returned to its home with no major injuries — just a scrape on the leg from jumping the fence.