RICHMOND, R.I. — Perhaps she didn’t want to be looked at as a piece of meat.

Whatever the reason, Islay, a six-month-old Scotch Highland calf, bolted from her barn at the Washington County Fair and has not been seen since Tuesday night. The fair, Rhode Island’s biggest agricultural event, which runs through Sunday, sits on more than 100 acres of wooded property off Route 112.

Sarah Balmforth, 20, says she had untied the red, fuzzy Islay (pronounced “EYE-la”) when a cow standing in front of her in the barn began to scratch the dirt. Then Islay took off. She ran through the open gates of the fairgrounds through the parking lot and into the woods.

Balmforth is the calf’s caretaker and works for the Beaverhead Farm in Jamestown, which raises grass-fed cattle. Islay had been scheduled to appear at the fair in one of the beef shows.

“She is really tame, and completely halter-broken. She is my baby,” Balmforth said. “She is friendly. … This is her first fair, and she got scared.”

Balmforth is pleading with the public to help her find Islay, and hopes someone will call her cell phone with news, at (401) 932-8698. Fair organizers are offering a $100 reward.

Pete Fish, the fair’s chairman, said Richmond officials are searching for the calf, and he is optimistic the calf will be found.

“I have cows,” he said. “Mine get loose once in a while. They always find their way home.”

tpina@projo.com