Incident number: 1026
Response ID: 308,535,620
Date of incident: 31.03.23
Location: Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Using the Vale Trail route 9
Status: More than 10 people with no dog
Our reporter stated “The cows started staring at us and snorting and then advanced towards us and surrounding us. They came very close, then another cow started running towards us, but headed off the cows that were surrounding us. It was terrifying. We thought we’d be safe because it was a public walkway printed on the Vale Trail Website on the Councils main website. I reported it to the Vale of Glamorgan Council and asked that they could reroute the walk as I explained the cows were aggressive, it took some time for the council to acknowledge and they explained that the farmer was not getting back to them, they did say that they would warn the public by stating that t the walk includes cattle on the route, I contacted them again to say it was not enough and they said that they had contacted the farmer again and written a letter, but the farmer had not replied. There would have been room to segregate the cows from the public to keep the public safe. Check out www.valeofglamorgan.co.uk and select valetrails route 9
Please! Please! Please! Segregate the cows from the public. Walking the Vale Trails should be safe and a place for walkers to enjoy. The farmer should have placed notices of vulnerable times of the year when cows might have been particularly aggressive/protective, but no warning was provided.”
Cattle Safety 