Escaped ostrich snarls Golden Gate traffic

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- An ostrich rescued from the butcher snarled rush hour traffic on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge when it crashed through the back window of a van.

The ostrich stopped traffic in both directions Monday afternoon as it ran through traffic and dozens of tourists snapped pictures of the 6-foot-tall creature.

"It should never have happened," driver and Love Farms owner Ronald Love told the San Francisco Chronicle of what happened after he accelerated strongly. "The ostrich's butt broke the window. You never would think an ostrich could fit through a little window, but she did."

Love said he had rescued the ostrich several hours earlier in Watsonville, Calif., where it was slated to be butchered.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Wayne Ziese said the bird suffered "minor road rash" but otherwise was unhurt when it was rounded up 10 minutes later on the Golden Gate Bridge.