Lynn Fozzy, 43, of High Ridge has spent the past three weeks searching for a small zebu steer named Zacheus she rescued in June.
Fozzy said Zacheus, who is about 1 year old and weighs approximately 120 pounds, looks like a miniature cow.
She said she bought Zacheus, who will remain small, at a horse auction in Farmington. At the time, he looked malnourished and sick.
Fozzy said she started nursing him back to health, but he got out of an open gate on July 11.
“We tried to catch him and it spooked him into the woods,” she said.
Fozzy said she didn’t see Zacheus for five or six days, but then spotted him in a wooded area behind houses in Byrnes Mill, but couldn’t catch him.
She started reaching out to neighbors and the community for help.
Fozzy said Monday she is offering a cash reward to anyone who catches him, although she hadn’t decided on an amount for the reward.
Fozzy said she and her husband, James, have searched for Zacheus on foot, searched on horses and searched with a drone and with herding dogs.
“We are so close I can taste it,” she said.
Fozzy said she knows the general area where Zacheus is hiding, and she has set pens hoping he’ll enter one so she can catch him.
She said one of the reasons it’s been so hard to catch Zacheus is because he is scared of people.
Fozzy said she spotted Zacheus Sunday, and he seems to have made friends with seven deer, which made it even harder for her to catch him.
“At least he’s staying safe because you can’t sneak up on a deer,” she said.
After Fozzy bought Zacheus for $200 at the horse auction last month, she began working to rehabilitate him.
“He was super skinny and was full of ticks,” she said.
Fozzy said he also had an infection when she brought him home.
She said it wasn’t easy working with him at first.
“He charged my shin bones for the first several days,” Fozzy said.
However, he started warming up.
“He was eating great out of your hand and he was healing up,” she said.
Fozzy said she is terrified for him being out by himself.
“Because he is so afraid of people, I was scared he was going to run and he has,” she said.
She said she is also worried about coyotes and other predators possibly hurting him because he is so small.
Fozzy said a petting zoo has shown interest in adopting him after he is rehabilitated. “If my husband (James) doesn’t fall in love with him, he will be going to the petting zoo,” she said.
Fozzy said two years ago she rescued her first mini horse, and has rescued others since then.
“I just have a heart for those animals; I can’t explain it,” she said.
Fozzy said she used to work as a veterinary technician, but now stays at home.
“My husband and I both have a heart for it (rescuing animals),” she said.
Fozzy said Zacheus was the first cow she rescued.
She also said she and her husband don’t make any money rescuing and rehabbing the animals.
“We’ve never come out on the good end, but we love what we do,” she said.
Fozzy said she is thankful for all the people who have helped her with the search for Zacheus.
The Byrnes Mill Police Department also has helped with the effort, she said.
Fozzy said Zacheus is wearing a pink collar and anyone with information about his whereabouts should call her at 314-220-8966.