Victoria city officials are meeting today to discuss what to do about a large brown cow that washed ashore on the beach just west of Clover Point on the weekend.

“She’s still there,” said city spokeswoman Katie Josephson this morning.

The city had considered cordoning off the area and covering the dead animal with a tarp, but Sunday night’s high tides prevented that from happening.

Josephson said the city has been trying to reach a variety of agencies to figure out how to remove the cow.

The animal washed up about six metres from the water’s edge, but below the high-water line, meaning that technically, it falls within the federal government’s jurisdiction.

Still, the city seems to be taking the lead on removing it.

“Regardless of what the jurisdiction is, we’re in a city park — hundreds of people and animals walk the beach every day — and we want to be sure we are taking care of it,” Josephson said.

She added there are no cattle farms within city limits and wouldn’t speculate about where the animal might have come from.

“At this point, we’re less concerned with how it got here and more interested in how do we take it away,” she said. “We’ve never had a cow before, so this is quite unique.”

Josephson said police received the initial call about the cow on Saturday night at around 10 p.m.

“It was originally thought to be a dead horse, but once the officers got there they were able to determine it was a cow,” said Victoria police acting Sgt. Jamie McRae Sunday.

It’s not clear where the cow might have come from, he added.

“It could be from anywhere for all we know,” he said.

Police called the city’s 24-hour public works department, which in turn contacted the parks department. The city also contacted a number of other authorities, including Agriculture Canada.

Still, no one seems to know at this point who, exactly, is responsible when livestock washes up on a beach.

“We’re still determining who are the appropriate authorities to be notified and who needs to be involved before it is moved off site,” Josephson said, adding it was difficult to reach some on Sunday.

“We hope to find a suitable solution [Monday] at the latest because, clearly, the longer this goes on, the greater an issue this becomes.”

The water-logged animal has numerous puncture wounds on its belly and appeared to have no teeth or eyes.

mpearson@tc.canwest.com