CHELSEA, MI — Depending on whose version of the story you believe, two runaway steers destined for the butcher in southeast Michigan were either murdered or killed to protect the public because they were aggressive, setting up a conflict between animal-rights activists and livestock farmers.

The 1,500-pound steers escaped Thursday from a farmer in the Superior Township area who was taking them to Milan to be butchered, an everyday occurrence in farm country. The door to the trailer broke open, the steers bolted to freedom and the owner couldn't corral them, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, which put out an alert warning residents "these animals can be aggressive so use caution." Among those joining the search for the missing steers was Daniel McKernan, who founded and operates the Barn Sanctuary in Chelsea. He envisions a world where no one eats meat and everyone embraces a vegan lifestyle. Farm animals like the runaway steer find sanctuary at McKernan's nonprofit. He hitched a trailer to his vehicle, determined to bring the runaway — initial reports indicated there was only one steer on the loose — in alive.

In several Facebook Live videos, McKernan describes seeing a hovering helicopter and hearing gunshots. During his more than half-hour search for the steers, his comments were consistent with the mission of Barn Sanctuary. He described a steer "fighting for his life" and worried that "if this cow is stuck outside at night, it will probably freeze." The temperature "felt like around negative 7 degrees," he said. McKernan urged his 10,781 Facebook followers to call the sheriff's office and let authorities know "there's dude with a horse trailer who's very nice to cows" and tell them "please don't shoot."

One steer, McKernan said, had already been shot and "skinned alive and left in the woods to die," but he later qualified that it was "probably skinned alive." (It wasn't, the sheriff's office said later.) When McKernan found a sheriff's deputy, he was rebuked and told his help wasn't needed.

"I went out there all nice," McKernan said. "I have a horse trailer. This animal is scared. It's unbelievable. It's awful."

Later, he said: "They must be hunting now. They're (expletive) hunting, pardon my language."

In another video, he said: "All I've got to say is these cows are fighting for their lives right now. They just want to be free. They want to be in a forest like this, and the fact that the Washtenaw sheriff's department just goes out and hunts them when they find out they're lost, instead of calling animal rescue groups to take them in, that's unbelievable." The videos blew up on Facebook, of course, generating thousands of shares and sympathetic comments.