Report No. 884
Date of Incident: 8th June 2024
Location: Exminster canal footpath, England. Grid ref SX 295753 88008
1 quiet dog on a lead.
Cattle: Group of bullocks. Chestnut brown.
Account “I was walking across a large field, a long way from the cows, at least 200 feet away. 2 or 3 bullocks ran over, one was bigger than the others and was lowering and shaking his head, stamping his feet and was not deterred by me standing my ground, shouting, waving my arms etc. More joined them and I moved in stages to the edge of the field. My dog was calm and behind me.
I stood still, facing them and the picture was worrying enough for a cyclist to stop on the towpath on the other side of the hedge and ask if I was ok and they offered to stay in case anything happened.
I had to stand still for about 15 minutes as moving made the main bullock run forward in a charging motion. Eventually I stretched my hand out to the bullock, low down, and this seemed to calm things a bit. After about 20 minutes I was able to calmly and slowly walk to the field exit.
I am very confident with cows and have encountered them in fields many times but this was genuinely concerning and could easily have ended very differently.
Final comment – “The field is enormous, at least 30 acres, so these bullocks could easily be fenced off with electric fencing. I appreciate that farmers need to put them somewhere but this is a popular walking area and it feels like a serious accident waiting to happen.”
Cattle Safety 