Another cow trampling attack on a public footpath.
On the 5th October 2017, just a few weeks ago, Lianne Hutchinson was out walking her dog on a public footpath near Darlington. Suddenly, a cow barged through the fence and attacked her.
David describes his lengthy battle to achieve compensation for his injuries after being attacked by cattle. Despite the many setbacks, he recommends taking legal action if you are the victim of a cattle attack, and he explains why.
Read David’s article here: Thinking of suing? Pitfalls and delays
Libby found a sympathetic lawyer, who made sure she understood the process of litigation, and who helped her and her husband win recompense for their injuries and suffering. Libby explains step-by-step what you need to do in a similar situation.
Read Libby’s article here: Help I’ve been injured by cattle. What do I do?
In the end, whether a victim decides to sue or not will depend on individual circumstances. We hope reading about other people’s experiences will help you work out the best course of action for you.
Libby is a farmer’s daughter and was brought up amongst livestock. She wasn’t scared of cows… not until she was trampled and nearly lost her life.
“I was one of those walkers who felt that people who worried about cows were just townies who didn’t understand them,” she explains. “I know differently now.”
Following her experience, Libby is much more cautious.
“Now, I have a set of personal rules when I embark on a walk, to try to keep me, and anyone I walk with, safe.”
Before entering a field of cattle, Libby makes the following checks:
For an extended version of Libby’s rules, and to read more of her advice, go here: Libby’s tips for staying safe around cattle.
We picked up the dogs and ran.
In April 2014, we visited the stones at Stonehenge, and decided to walk back using the footpath rather than the road. There were two of us and we had our two small dogs, who were both on a lead.
There were a herd of heifers over by the fence in the far corner of the field. As we walked towards the gate, the herd started to move rapidly towards us, pushing us close to the fence.
We headed towards a gate – but it was locked. We picked up the dogs and ran to get to another gate, and managed to escape without being harmed.
I reported it to English Heritage (who manage Stonehenge} when they asked for feedback on our visit. This was at a well-used tourist site. The path should be separated from the cows… we were badly scared.
Should you sue? If you were injured by cattle, the answer is YES. But the process is not always straightforward.
David was seriously injured after he was attacked by cows while crossing a field on a public footpath. But the farmer wasn’t insured, and that meant David had difficulty finding a firm of solicitors willing to take his case. After he did manage to start legal proceedings, there were delays, and then came a pitiful offer…
Read more about David’s experiences here: Thinking of suing? Pitfalls and delays.
They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but cows certainly can. Continue reading “Another trample on Devil’s Dyke”
The cattle came charging at us.
On the 22nd September, 2017, we were walking across the footpath of the Millennium woods, near Cilcain village, north Wales. There were just the two of us and we had our border collie Nell on a lead. Continue reading “Near miss: Tony and Sue’s narrow escape”
“I know I’m so lucky to be alive.”
In this video clip, Ann Doherty describes how she was attacked by a bull in 2010. The incident happened when Ann found the road blocked by cows, got out of her car, and wandered into the bull’s field, by mistake. Continue reading “Irish story – Ann Doherty”
Franco describes his ‘cowfrontation’ and how he fought off the attack.
It was February 2008, and I was walking along the banks of the River Arun, East Sussex.
The path was on top of an embankment which in turn followed the course of the river. There was a large herd of Jersey Cows in the field next to the embankment. Three of them were on it, blocking my way. So I avoided them by looping around them, going down the slope of the embankment and coming up.
As I came back up the slope to rejoin the path, I glanced around and one of the animals was giving me something of an ‘evil eye’. If I could describe this look, it was the look of someone whom I owed money. Not a nice look. But I dismissed this sense of apprehension. I grew up in Somerset and walked through fields of cows umpteen times without much ado.
But I had a bad feeling about this cow, and I was about to have that sense of foreboding vindicated.
As I got back on the flat top of the embankment, I heard a sound and saw that cow was charging me, head down, with only several meters of distance the between me and it – closing fast.
Outrunning it was out of the question. I think I said something like ‘Sh*t!’, but I reacted quickly. I swung at it with my day sack and yelled cusses, which deflected its charge. That reaction may have saved me from serious injury, or worse, because there was no way I was going to stop it by saying ‘nice cow’ in a gentle voice.
It came for me again, and I deflected it a second time, swinging with my bag. And then a third, I think. I can’t remember.
However many times it was, I was now off the embankment and down onto the flat plain next to the river. I was conscious that the ground was soggy and damp, and I was thinking two things. First, I might be driven into the river – bad news, as I cannot swim. Second, the entire herd might join the attack, in which case I knew I was really in for it. But, for some reason, the others carried on grazing indifferently during the whole incident. Just as well.
For around five minutes, there was a kind of stand-off between me and the cow – it clearly wanted to charge me down, but my aggressive response was deterring it.
Escape was problematic. I needed to get back up that embankment and out of the field but I could hardly do that while I had a 1000kg of meat, fat and bone wanting to trample me into the mud, blocking my escape.
I picked up some stray pole which, happily, was lying at my feet, and started trying to lunge at the cow’s eye. I was beginning to get a bit desperate and panic was starting to rise. The confrontation finally ended when I yelled ‘F*ck off!’ with as much vehemence as I could muster. That did the trick. The cow turned tail and ran off.
Relieved, I dropped the pole and then made my way along the sticky mud to the stile – about a 100 meters distant. Phew!
As I cleared the stile, I saw two young women on the path, more or less on the same spot where I had just been attacked. I was tempted to yell a warning to them but, as they were walking unmolested, I thought better of it. They would have thought some lunatic was harassing them. I was still stunned by the experience and could scarcely believed what had just happened.
That incident was toward the end of the walk and I jumped on a train at Arundel, back to London, shortly thereafter. As I looked out of the window at the very embankment where I had just had this drama, I reflected on my experience, a very unsettling one.
I told work colleagues the story. The episode was so ridiculous that the it made a great anecdote to tell people down the pub. Given the whole point of the walk was to walk off a hangover from an evening of alcoholic excess the night before, the whole thing was quite comical, from one perspective. But I was not laughing at the time. I nearly ended up with something a lot worse than a hangover!
Since then, I have been on loads and loads of country walks and there have been occasions when I have had to walk through herds of cattle, which have always been tense experiences. It’s not always possible to avoid them – not on places like the South West Coast Path, for instance, unless the advice is to clamber down a cliff and then clamber back up to get around them.
This was a strange incident. None of the triggers one normally associates with these attacks was there. There were no calves. I had no dog. Yet it happened anyway. I never thought of reporting it and I regret doing that. If the experience is ever repeated, I certainly would. But I am in no hurry to go through anything like that again.
I have used humour to lighten the story as that is my way of coping. I do not want to give the impression that I felt amused at the time. Not at all. When it was happening, I was scared and, at one point, very scared.
Still, the compensations of country walking are too great to give it up on account of this one ‘cowfrontation’. But when I so much as see a dried cow pat in the field, I think that there could be trouble if I am not careful. I make sure I walk with the bag slung around my shoulder … ready to do battle.
Nearly 50% of farmers report having been attacked by cows during calving.
In this article, Libby considers the risk to farmers from their cattle, and summarises the existing guidance.
In fact, it seems that they are more at risk than walkers.
From 2000 – 2015 there were 74 fatalities involving cattle recorded by HSE.
Peter was pursued by cows on the Thames Path, and is reluctant to walk any more long-distance trails.
In May 2017, I was walking the last few days of the Thames Path and was approaching Newbridge in heavy rain. At Bablock Hythe, I met a couple from Virginia walking the other way. They said they had passed some excitable cattle but, being country people, knew how to handle them.
The last field before Newbridge is large and curved, and I did not see cattle until I was halfway across. They were maybe 50 yards away, but one stood up and started running towards me, and the entire herd followed.
There was no escape from the field as the path ran along the banks of the Thames. I noticed there were boats moored by the bank and knew I could jump into one if the situation became critical.
When the cattle got too close, I turned round and spoke sharply to the ringleader. They stopped. But, as soon as I started walking again, they pursued at a trot. This happened three times and eventually I reached the gate out of the field.
For the remainder of the walk I avoided cattle, in one case taking a very lengthy detour to do so.
The cattle’s behaviour may have been affected by thunder which I heard an hour previously. I didn’t see any calves with them, but they could have been there. I tend to do my multi-day walks in September, well past the calving season and at a time when cattle have been out in the fields for some months and are used to seeing walkers. But this walk was done in May.
Further up the Thames Path, near Lechlade, there was a similar incident. Fortunately, on this occasion there was an electric fence between the path and the cattle.
I have walked three National Trails, including the South West Coast Path, but now I’m not sure if I want to walk any more long-distance paths because I’m worried about entering any fields with cattle. Often they are not apparent when one enters the field.
One solution would be to require landowners to install electric fences separating the footpath from livestock. I would like to see this become mandatory where a right of way passes through fields with cattle. Grants could be given to landowners to facilitate these fences.
We focus on walkers, but this death reminds us that farmers are at a much greater risk
Sad news from Northern Ireland. Thelma Gorman, a respected cattle breeder, was found on her farm yesterday afternoon after an “incident” with a cow.
Sadly, despite the efforts of the air ambulance, she died at the scene. Continue reading “Farmer killed by her cow”
Cattle Safety 