Case No. 1159
Date of Incident 14 07 2025
Location On footpath on the outskirts of Aldbury, Hertfordsire, England
I person, 1 dog – on lead
Account “I was on my usual early morning dog walk that includes a field that had recently had a herd of black cows put in it. I’d been nervous of walking through it ever since, but a friend persuaded me cows are completely harmless and we walked through together and she demonstrated how to make my arms wide and make a loud strange noise if I felt threatened by them, which would warn them away.
Since then I’d been brave enough to walk through the field alone, although mostly they were a long way away e.g. in a far corner. Anyway, this morning they were all on the footpath very close to the gate I entered in. I hesitated but decided I would be ok if I walked a long way around them, which was completely off the path and away from the hedge. I began to do that but they all started to look at me and within around 20 seconds had started to walk directly towards me as an entire herd. I was instantly alarmed, they were all making direct eye contact and were walking with intent. I walked more quickly at a different angle and they matched my direction, again as a herd. I was by this point very afraid they might want to hurt me. It didn’t feel safe, it felt very strange that every single one of them was walking straight towards me. I then decided to stop walking, to see if that would help. So I stood my ground and made strange loud noises and put my arms wide as my friend had suggested. This made no different at all and they kept advancing until they were all a few feet away, just staring at me. I really panicked then and started to slowly jog away, and they all picked up their pace to carry on in pursuit and keep up with me. It was so scary that the whole herd were following me. I slowed then sped up a few times and they kept matching my pace and direction, I couldn’t shake them off, they were feet away. In the end I ran – with my dog still on the lead running with me – and made it to the gate out of the field. I have no idea whether they would have hurt me or were simply being friendly or inquisitive, but I felt extremely threatened and frightened. I saw a woman out running straight after it had happened, and she was heading to the field, so I told her what had happened and she changed her route, saying she was also very wary of cows. I came home, very shaken and feeling very thankful, but also wondering am I being ridiculous, so I googled and came across this site. I will never walk in a field of cows again. I can’t shake the feeling there was something not right about their interest in and pursuit of me, as a herd.” Respondent also suggests “I would like more awareness around the potential risk so people can make informed choices about whether to enter fields with cows in them, and/or better advice or warnings to protect people.”
Cattle Safety 