FARMINGTON, Minn.  — The bull that broke loose and injured nine people at the Dakota County Fair has been put down at a slaughterhouse.

The bull’s Merill, Wis.-based owner says he felt bad about the injuries so he had the bull killed. The Star Tribune reported Friday  that Scott VanDerGeest of Gold Medal Cattle Co. had leased the 1,200-pound animal to the Rice Bull Riding Co. that was staging a rodeo at the fair.

Authorities don’t have a clear sense how the bull escaped from its pen and the bull riding company questions if the response went too far. When the bull stormed toward a parking lot, a sheriff’s deputy fired two shots at it.

Local authorities defend how they handled it, saying that they were trying to control a chaotic situation.