Shoppers at a Walmart Supercenter on the 1200 block of Southeast Military Drive got an unexpected surprise this week when a young Angus calf came wandering toward the store's front doors. Someone called it in, San Antonio Animal Care Services and police officers showed up, and what followed was a chase through a retail parking lot that ended underground.
According to KSAT, animal care officers nicknamed the wandering bull calf Moodini once the chase was underway. Per ACS, the calf was first spotted wandering toward the Walmart before San Antonio police officers helped herd it out of traffic and into a nearby patch of green space, according to the station's report. From there, Moodini had other plans.
As detailed by News 4 San Antonio, shoppers first noticed the young bull approaching the store's entrance and alerted both Animal Care Services and police. Rather than staying put in the green space where officers had pushed it, the calf slipped away and entered a large underground drainage tunnel, where it stopped to rest.
Officers Corner the Calf Underground
Getting a spooked calf out of a storm drain isn't exactly standard fare for the largest open-admission municipal shelter in South Texas, but that's what ACS handles alongside its usual stray-dog caseload, according to 6AM City. Animal care officers eventually removed the bull calf from the tunnel and loaded it into a livestock trailer, per the same account from KSAT. ACS is now asking anyone with information about the calf's owner to contact 311.
The Walmart chase wasn't an isolated event for South Side San Antonio, where semi-rural pockets of pastureland often sit right up against commercial corridors. Just months earlier, in November 2025, ACS and police officers wrangled a trio of bulls after the animals escaped through an open gate for what the department described, per KENS 5, as a moonlight stroll.
A Regional Pattern of Cattle on the Loose
Moodini's dash through a Walmart parking lot also arrived just four days after a much larger escape about 30 miles south. Roughly 40 calves broke out of the Atascosa County Show Barn and into a Chili's parking lot in Pleasanton, Texas, requiring deputies and local ranchers to round them up, as KENS 5 reported.
Livestock cannot legally roam within San Antonio city limits, and if Moodini's owner is identified, they could face real financial consequences. City Council updated Chapter 5 of the municipal code in December 2024 to raise minimum fines for owners who let animals roam free to $100 for a first offense, $500 for a second, and $750 for a third or subsequent offense, according to Community Impact. Separately, the council added Section 5-23 to the code in September 2025, setting fines between $500 and $2,000 for anyone who intentionally abandons livestock or other animals within city limits, Community Impact also reported.
Rules for Keeping Cattle Inside City Limits
San Antonio does allow residents to keep livestock legally, but the rules are strict. City code guidelines published by Animal Care Services cap residential properties at two livestock animals — including cattle, horses, sheep, or goats — and require an ACS Livestock Permit, which runs $150 annually per horse or bovine and requires a physical inspection. Pens and enclosures must also sit at least 100 feet from any neighboring home or business, a buffer intended to head off nuisance, pest, and odor complaints.
If Moodini's owner never comes forward, state law takes over. Under Chapter 142 of the Texas Agriculture Code, stray livestock found roaming without permission are legally classified as estrays, and the county sheriff is required to impound the animal, issue public notice, and can eventually sell it at public auction if no owner steps up. For now, the calf remains in the custody of Animal Care Services, and the mystery of where it came from is still unresolved.
