New York, Feb 24 (IANS): Activists held a protest outside a local slaughterhouse against the killing of a bull that escaped and became an instant TV celebrity as it was pursued by police in a scene like jallikattu.

Police hit the bull with tranquilizer darts which killed it.

Several dozen people -- virtually all of them non-Hindus -- held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night to mourn the bull, which they named Courage.

"No one deserves cruelty, abuse, torture or murder," a protester said in a WABC TV report.

Another said: "We're here fighting for our brother."

"Today (Wednesday) we're paying respects to a life lost, a beautiful life."

The bull escaped from Aziz Slaughterhouse in a neighbourhood with a lot of immigrants on Tuesday and ran for its life through a residential area.

TV reports showed the bull being chased by police like it was jallikattu, except that some were in vehicles and they fired tranquilizer darts at Courage.

The scene captured the hearts of steely New Yorkers making Courage an instant celebrity.

"They saw him running for life like you would or I would if we were faced with pain or fear or imminent death," WPIX TV quoted Jill Carnegie, the head of 'Vegans of New York', which organised the candlelight vigil, as saying.

Courage kept running with several darts stuck to its body before it collapsed.

The bull was taken in a police van to an animal care facility in Brooklyn where it died.

According to authorities, the bull would be saved from the butcher's knife and given freedom at an animal sanctuary.

Last year, a bull named Freddie escaped from another slaughterhouse in the city.

But it was safely captured and adopted by comedian Jon Stewart and his wife and taken to their farm.