Crafty Clarence really is like a bull in a china shop (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

Crafty Clarence really is like a bull in a china shop

1:00pm Thursday 14th February 2013 in News

IT'S D-Day for Clarence the crafty longhorn bull.

The 700kg giant hit the headlines after the Gazette revealed he was giving vets the runaround as they tried to test him for TB.

Clarence - the star attraction at St Osyth's Greenland Grove Animal Sanctuary - risked being put down unless he has his jabs.

But the steer, whose horns span 5ft, refused to let anyone near him.

Owner Carol Jacobs managed to borrow a special cattle crush from a friendly farmer after launching a desperate appeal in the Gazette.

But luring Clarence inside so he can have his jab proved a major headache.

Carol managed to coax him out his field but the wily animal was soon up to his old tricks - and behaving like a bull in a china shop.

"Eventually when we got him in position he just decided he was going back home," she said.

"He jumped over the fence and then over a huge five-bar gate gate.

"Before we could stop him, he smashed down the front fence to the field he came out of and went back in where he felt safe, leaving behind a trail of devastation."

Carol had less than 24 hours to get Clarence ready for the vet's visit on Monday.

When the big day came she had to get a rope around his massive horns and use a forklift truck to reel him in like a giant fish.

The big bull toppled over after getting tangled in the rope but the vet grabbed his chance and got the jabs done.

"It was horrible to watch," admitted Carol, "but it was the only thing we could do."