NYPD highway cop corrals a runaway lamb on the Gowanus Expressway

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Police Officer Dominick Gatto holds a lamb he rescued on the Gowanus Expressway, March 13, 2019. (Courtesy of NYPD)

A lamb apparently trying to escape a slaughterhouse in Brooklyn almost became roadkill on a busy highway Wednesday morning. But the NYPD came to the rescue.

Police Officer Dominick Gatto of Highway 2 was stationed on the Gowanus Expressway near 50th Street when the adorable black lamb ran by. The New York Post reported that the animal was first spotted near 38th Street.

Gatto, whose name means "cat," pounced on the lamb after a brief chase.

"Highway had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb... @NYPDHighway Officer Gatto & Lieutenant Nassef worked hard to ensure the safety of everyone on the expressway today, including a wayward lamb," Chief Thomas Chan, the department's chief of transportation, tweeted.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection tweeted video showing an officer chasing the lamb on the highway and said that an off-duty CBP officer assisted police with the capture.

Police said they believe the lamb likely came from one of several slaughterhouses located in Sunset Park, which the Gowanus Expressway traverses.

Gatto and Nassef took the lamb into protective custody and brought her to Animal Care Centers of NYC on Staten Island.

ACC staff checked her out, named her Petunia, and turned her over to Mike Stura, the founder of Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in New Jersey, where she will be spared from Easter dinner.