COWS probably hold more information about cattle attacks than any other organisation in the UK. We looked at our database and have brought you the headline figures.
As of July 2024, we have collected 889 cattle incidents in England and Wales, reported to us over the past 7 years, using our self-reporting online form. You can read the full 2024 Data Report here: Cumulative Data Report, 2024
Continue reading “2024 Data Report: headlines”Incident number: 935
Response ID: 306,162,318
Date: 16.08.24
Location: Angelsey: Walking to Mynydd Bodafon from Nan ty sebons across a large field Near Brynrefail
Liz and her dog Rosco were walking along this popular walk when 30 plus cows charged towards them at speed! Rosco had been on a lead and was calm so there was no real reason for them to charge. They moved quickly away from the footpath and managed to find a route away through undergrowth. Liz was very grazed and itchy after trampling through brambles and nettles to reach the path again and obviously very scared.
Liz says “I have problems with cows every week when I walk in Wales or England. They terrify me! They charge at speed towards me! Some farmers fence their cows away from footpath. Wish this was a legal requirement on public paths.
Incident number: 934
Response ID: 306,153,541
Date: 14.08.24
Location: Fleet Head TQ 948 892 near Little Wakering in Essex.
Jane’s story
“Two of us were walking along the Essex coast path with our dogs on leads. We were on a sea bank and came to a gate. Ahead, through the gate, which is where we wanted to go there was a group of about 25 cows with what looked like older calves. To the left of the sea bank was estuary water. The cows were mainly on the right of the bank with about three on the top. While we were deciding what to do we saw another gate to the side of us about 50m away. We decided to go for that as the cows were mooing and walking towards us. They then started running and making a noise but we got through the gate as they reached us. The two dogs we had were calm and on a lead. We were not harmed at all but had to cut a big section of our coast path walk off.”
Incident number: 933
Response ID: 306,151,398
Date: 18.08.24
Location: Near Rushall Wiltshire (What 3 words outbid.shuttled.insurers)
Paul’s Story
“Two of us were walking without a dog along a public footpath. A large number of young bullocks were in the field (at least 50). They were 80 -100 meters away as we entered the field and started walking downhill towards the other gate but they immediately came closer and then charged at us as we were crossing on the public footpath. The line of cows was at least 12 cows wide at the front. We held our arms out as we walked but they were coming closer and fast. Shouting momentarily deterred the nearest leaders, also clapping, but more of the herd kept coming. They were less than 10m away. I kept walking and shouting and waving at them and my companion, behind me, charged a couple of 2m at them in desperation and finally the herd of cows turned back. We were able to reach the far gate.
The cows need to be separated from the footpath. Large numbers of cows like this are very dangerous.”
Incident number: 930
Response ID: 306,096,962
Date: 16.08.24
Location: On public access land at Wheal Jewel reservoir – Dartmoor
I was walking on my own without a dog through open moor. I saw a group of cows and calves so I gave a wide berth – about 30 metres. The cows charged at me presumably to protect their calves. I jumped into a gorse bush and waited for them to go away. I thankfully only suffered a few minor scratches.
Report No: 929
Date of Incident: 19/09/22
Location: Hadrian’s wall path just west of Cawfield’s Quarry
Account “I was walking Hadrian’s Wall Path when a woman with a dog ran past me towards a gate. She was being chased by a cow with its head lowered. I (stupidly or bravely, I don’t know) stepped between her and the cow to protect them, spread out my arms, and yelled at the cow to stop. It skidded to a halt in front of me, looked me over, then peered around me towards the dog. Once the woman and the dog made it to the other side of the gate, the cow ambled away.
I believe that had I not intervened, the woman or her dog would have been injured.”
Report No: 928
Date of Incident: 25/07/24
Location: Newdigate, Surrey, England
Account “I was crossing a field on my own (female 64, very fit) with 2 spaniel dogs on short leads on a footpath. I knew there were cows in the field, couldn’t see a bull, there were some calves but not particularly young, probably about 15-20 cows. I tried to keep as far away from the cows as possible but they started to follow me and gradually caught me up and began to surround me. I let go of the dogs which ran off but the cows did not follow them. One cow pushed me to the ground with its nose and then three or four others joined in head butting me. I curled up in a ball trying to protect myself and stayed still hoping they would lose interest which they did after a while and moved away to a different part of the field.
Continue reading ““I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time””Report No: 927
Date of Incident: 10/08/24
Location: Bottom of Cader Idris (just up from steps), Wales
2 people, no dog.
Account “We had walked up the steep steps on the Minfford Path route at the foot of Cader Idris, to a large open area with no cover. A cow with calves charged at me and my partner, we had driven two hours to go walking and turned back.”
Tom also adds:- “For public footpaths it should be illegal to have cows with calves roaming across them.”
Incident No: 926
Date of Incident: 08/08/24
Location: Near Newbold Astbury, Cheshire. Lat/long 53 08 40 N 002 13 46 W WTW – spoken.kicked.acid
1 person, no dog
Account “I was on a run at about 6p.m. I crossed into the field, which has quite a steep incline, so the cows weren’t immediately obvious. As I came over the brow of the hill I saw a number of cattle. A large bull started to run towards me and cut off the footpath. I moved through an open gateway into the next field and moved behind the hedge. There were also cattle in there. The original bull followed me, along with many other cattle from the 1st field. They surrounded me and were blocking the gateway I had come through. The front ones were about a metre away from me, including the original bull. I remained by the hedge, facing them, with my arms outstretched. I stood for about 25 minutes. Each time I tried to move they followed me. Eventually the original bull started eating (though he didn’t move away) and I was able to walk quickly around the herd and escape over the fence at the bottom of the field.”
Report No: 925
Date of Incident: 01/08/24
Location: what 3 words melon.mural.tower – near Marston Montgomery, Derbyshire,
2 People, no dog.
Account: “We were walking down a supposed bridleway with our bikes, but it was completely overgrown so we had to push our bikes. There was a field to our right containing a herd of cattle and they were very unhappy with our presence. They were snorting and taking it in turns to faux charge. We were separated by a single waist high wire which may have saved us. We carried on walking calmly and they all ran about 50m further along the field to wait for us, still snorting and distressed. We stopped to discuss what we should do and they all ran back up to us. We decided we had no option but to walk on an adjacent field away from them and got away unscathed. There were no calves that we could see. We were scared by these cattle; we met some cows further along and they were fine.”
Suggestion from Ali – “The path being maintained would be a start. There could be more robust protection if the cows are known to be aggressive”
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Incident number: 923
Response ID: 305,591,997
Date: 03.08.2024
Location: Chinnor Oxfordshire (What 3 words ///recruiter.cello.trudges)
Gary said “I was walking on a public footpath with my dog on a lead. Cows followed despite staying a good distance then started to close in and as we got to the metal gate they charged, some crashing into the gate behind us”
Incident number: 921
Response ID: 305,399,403
Date: 31.07.2024
Location: Millthorpe, Derbyshire (What 3 words ///crops.flexibly.inert)
Emily’s story
“I was walking along a public footpath across a field with my mum, 6 year old boy and two dogs on leads. The cows just seemed inquisitive coming closer to see who we were. My mum and son began to get a little concerned and then all of a sudden one cow started charging towards us at which point the cow must’ve only been 6 meters away. We were by a hedgerow in the middle of the field, so we dived into those. Then three other cows came head first charging into us. I was protecting us all screaming and hitting them on the head. We backed further into the brambles. The cows were very aggressive and on high alert. Charging around the field and coming back to us to ram us further. With no exaggeration I thought they were going to kill us. We were stuck in this vulnerable situation for at least 45 minutes. We called our family and they rushed up within 10 mins, they found a man sitting with a small buggy truck. My dad and husband distracted the cows at the top of the field whilst the man in vehicle came to our rescue. The cows were charging at another fence trying to get at my dad.”
Cattle Safety 