Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

A young steer who broke out of a slaughterhouse in northern New Jersey, swam across a river and ran through city streets was being taken Wednesday to an animal sanctuary in New York where a “comfy straw bed” awaits him.

The black-and-white steer was rescued by a volunteer with the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary who picked him up this morning after tracking down the slaughterhouse, said Jenny Brown, a co-founder of the nonprofit center in south-central New York.

The animal appeared to be a cross between an Angus and a Holstein, and a veterinarian, who was required to inspect the steer so he could be legally transported across state lines, gave him antibiotics, she said. He  seemed to be shaken up and was pretty banged-up from his escape, including having a problem with his back leg.