19/8/2023
Near Stonegate station, Sussex
We were walking along a public footpath. There were three people in our group with no dogs. We were familiar with the area and there weren’t usually cows in this field. One of the cows was separated from the others and we had to walk past her. This aggravated the other cows who began to approach us menacingly. There may have been more than one bull. I tried to clap but this made the cows more threatening. My teenage son started to run and we all followed and the cows followed and they picked up pace. We managed to cross into a neighbouring field over a ditch and tried to ignore the cows/bulls but were terrified. Annie says that ”There should be signs up and ideally fencing or electric wire to separate the cattle and humans”
Incident number: 763
Response number: 289,062,691
Cattle Safety 
I am appalled at the trauma inflicted on you. I am so glad you reported it as it helps to dispel the myth that these events are always related to dogs.
This site appears to be picking up a much bigger number of incidents than are generally quoted/acknowledged. Addressing the site administrators, what does the incident number relate to and how many incidents have you had notified this year (or any other stats you have)?
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Good question. The incident number represent the number of incidents reported to us via this site since the survey started. The response number we mention in some of our blog posts is the response number from the site that hosts our survey, so it includes thousands of other surveys by other groups. We use the response number to cross reference with the original report. Sorry for any confusion.
We also publish an analysis of data figures in updates posted on this site. Our last update was July 2023 and you can find it here: https://killercows.co.uk/2023/07/06/cattle-attacks-our-lastest-data-report/
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Thank you Ruth. Those figures seem to put to bed a lot of myths, such as only people with dogs are attacked, only cows with calves are dangerous.
We walk a lot in England but also in the Alps in France and there they use extensive electric fences which is a single thin covered wire on rather insubstantial supports which are moveable for the farmer to change the area included. Undoubtedly they are to keep cows out of wooded areas, away from steep drops and in specified grazing areas but they are also used to keep them off footpaths. It does seem that cows respect a boundary, however flimsy. One side of it is theirs and woe betide you if you cross it potentially, but the other side is of no interest to them.
The other thing that helps is they usually have bells in the high areas which are a good early warning system so you don’t suddenly come across them unexpectedly.
Are we moving toward any specific goal with the data collection? Is there any movement from the authorities, HSE, coroner’s reports, National Trust, NFU or government do you know? Should we be moving to crowd fund a civil action against one of the farmers? I know the last thing we want is to alienate farmers but there doesn’t seem to be any change or indeed change of attitude? A case in law would change the landscape enormously.
What is the stance of any walking associations? Should we be formulating a plan for achieving safety that can be put to farmers?
I wondered how much the materials would cost for an electric fence and whether it is feasible to cover the material costs (again crowd funding or subscription from walking associations) with the farmer responsible for placement for instance. This particularly when there is no alternative field or livestock can’t be switched to sheep on public footpaths. Some footpath movement which makes security easier but doesn’t alter access or overall routes too much is another area and I know there is a strong walking lobby at this level but maybe they need to compromise where cows are concerned given the problems.
Do we need a conference?
So, in summary, what are the plans?
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