Cattle Safety

I really thought I was going to die!

One of our members, Jill, appeared on Countryfile last weekend 21st July 2024 with her husband Mark talking about their attack three years ago, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, as part of farm safety week.

She was seriously injured by a herd of cows and older calves. She broke multiple bones and spent two weeks in ICU and a total of three months in hospital.

I don’t know if you realise how traumatic the recall of her story must be for both her and her husband and how brave both she, and other people who tell their story are, to spread awareness in the hope that it will save others from the same fate.

Her full story was also reported in the Manchester Evening News. the link is included below plus a picture of the brave couple in a much happier picture.

I was attacked by a herd of cows. I really thought I was going to die

I ran for my life!

Incident number: 913

Response ID: 305,066,633

Date: 22.07.24

Location: Chailey Commons

Lizi’s story

I was walking on my own with my dog on a lead along a public right of way. Cows began charging towards me (and dog, quietly on lead) from an adjoining field. I moved slowly towards the hedge hoping they’d come through and pass, but they continued to charge towards me. The bull came round the corner and charged at me with horns down. I had to scare it away. All other cows came round and surrounded me, staring at me. I managed to get out of the field through the gap they entered, but they then proceeded to head towards a different gap back towards my direction, whilst all still staring straight at me.

Fortunately Lizi and her dog were unharmed but obviously badly scared.

“I have never been so frightened in my life, and this has put me off walking alone.”

Incident number: 909

Response ID: 304,951,617

Date: 17.07.24

Location: On Welsh Coast Path midway between St Brides and Rumney Great Wharf, Near Cardiff.

Elaine’s Story

“I was walking along the ridge, on a PROW, with the sea wall on my left and the ditch to my right when a large herd of cows were walking towards me. I very quietly walked past most of them as I had nowhere to move to. Cows were also in the ditch and on the slope. However, one cow started to charge at me and I had nowhere to go. Scared for my life I just stood frozen and shouted “No” as loud as I could several times. Eventually it turned away. This happened twice with this herd. Further on, near to where the path turns right towards Cardiff another herd exited the field they were in and came up onto the path! Again, one cow started to charge at me and I repeated the shouting and I was left staring into the eyes of a cow who wouldn’t move. Fortunately, I saw a worker in a field in a civil and I waved to him and shouted and to his credit he ran across the field and up to the path to rescue me. He kept the cows away so I could pass. He said they wouldn’t have hurt me, but I wasn’t taking any more risks. On both occasions I had nowhere I could move to get out of their way. I have never been so frightened in my life, and this has put me off walking alone.

I would like livestock to be kept away from National Trails. I understand it’s difficult when a path goes through a farmer’s field but when a National Trail is developed the livestock should not be allowed to wander onto it.”

Taw Marsh, Belstone, Devon. More broken bones in this, the second incident in this area.

Incident number: 908

Response ID: 304,915,812

Date: 16.07.24

Location: Taw Marsh Belstone Devon

A group of us were Walking across the moor, on a Public Right of Way, and attempting to avoid the group of cows like we always do as we have a dog and then all of a sudden, the group of cows charged towards us. I let the dog off the lead as he was clearly not helping but the cows kept advancing towards us. One particular cow appeared to be the ring leader and kept advancing no matter what direction we took. It eventually charged at one of our party and threw him off his feet which resulted in him breaking two ribs. I ran towards the cows with a stick and they eventually backed off otherwise I fear my friend would have been trampled. These were very dangerous Ferral animals and there are NO signs warning of their potential danger on the moor.

When incidents like this are reported these cows need to be confined – clearly there was one ring leader and the rest followed but this WILL end in a very serious incident if not attended to. We are quite traumatised but consider ourselves VERY lucky.”

The first incident in this area that we are aware of occurred in October 2023 when a rogue cow attacked a walker on their own. https://www.okehampton-today.co.uk/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-public-safety-on-dartmoor-needs-to-be-considered-623316

Cotswold way walker surprised to find such young cows on a popular national trail

Incident number: 907

Response ID: 304,899,542

Date: 15.07.24

Location: On the Cotswold way in the first field just above Thrift Wood farm just outside Wood Stanley.

“As we entered the field, we saw there were young cattle across the path. The dog was on a very short leash. We walked slowly and calmly up the field. The cows who were already quite close and on the path itself. They started to show an interest in us and the dog, coming slowly towards us then running and mooing. We let the dog off the lead and she ran up the hill. The cows started coming towards us very quickly. Luckily there was a closed metal farmers gate of the side of the field and we made towards that with the cows very close and climbed over. Luckily the dog could squeeze under it as I am sure she would have been stood on. It was very scary and we then spent a long time trying to find an alternative route.”

Airlifted to hospital by helicopter on New Year’s day. The second incident on Totley Moor in just a few months.

Incident number: 904

Response ID: 304,799,249

Date: 01.01.24

Location: Totley Moor, Derbyshire, Peak District

Cheska’s story “I was walking along the bridleway with my deaf elderly dog and partner. A herd of cows were seen in the distance and plenty of people had walked past them prior to us facing them. As we got closer the herd split up so we stopped to allow the rest of the herd to join where they were migrating to. As we had stopped one of the cows that had already crossed looked up and charged towards my dog. I got caught in the middle and was thrown in the air and suffered an open fracture to my tibia and fibula. As I had to lay on the floor the cow tried to charge at me again but I screamed in the cows face, shouting for help and the cow re-joined its herd. The bridleway was busy so it was easy to get attention of other walkers, Edale mountain rescue were called, they re-established blood flow to my leg and an air ambulance was called to take me to the hospital. I have had two surgery’s since, and as I’m pregnant (we had just found out) I had to be awake for both surgery’s! I suffer from severe PTSD and needed extensive therapy and physiotherapy

There were no signs for cattle & I’m shocked to learn what happened to me had happened to somebody just a few months prior in almost the same circumstances!”

An incident from a few years ago – fortunately Doc Martin was not required!

Incident number: 902

Response ID: 304,618,394

Date: 30.06.22

Location: Near the M1 in Derbyshire when walking from Scarsdale Abbey to Bolsover Castle.

Jennifer P’s story: “My husband and I were walking from Scarsdale Hall to Bolsover Castle along public footpaths on a route we’d found online. As we neared the M1, the route took us into a field of cattle with a wire fence along one side. It was soon after an episode of Doc Martin had aired where Doc Martin had to jump over a barbed wire fence when he was being pursued by a herd of cattle, and I joked to my husband that we’d end up doing a Doc Martin if the cattle came for us. I have to admit I was wary of them. My grandad was a farmer and kept cattle. I used to play with them as a child and wasn’t scared of them at all, but there was something about the way these cattle looked at us that I didn’t like. Sure enough, we were half way through the field and they began to charge. We were near the fence and managed to get over it without injuring ourselves. But we were then trapped on a steep slope of brambles. Even if we’d fought our way up through the brambles, it led to the motorway so not an ideal escape route for pedestrians. The farmer was a hundred metres or so away cutting hedges on a tractor so we yelled and he eventually spotted us and came over. He waved the cattle away with a stick and we climbed back onto the path and went to safety. He wasn’t apologetic – he said they were just curious. They were stampeding and we could have been crushed. I wish I’d reported it to the HSE at the time but I didn’t know that you could. This is one of four near misses we’ve had with cattle in the last four years and I’m now too scared to walk anywhere near them.”

A group of bullocks caused an urgent need to locate a safe exit

Report number: 901

Date of incident: 5/7/24

Site of incident: Three of us were crossing the Public right of way (PROW) on Coton Mill Farm land heading from Old Gayton Gorse to Mill Lane (OS Grid Reference: SJ 9783 3116) We were following the Pathfinder Staffordshire Outstanding Circular Walks Walk number 19: Milwich and Sandon Park.

Report: It was getting dusk and we were trying to return to Milwich where we had parked. We followed the PROW using OS Maps app and guide book. The field was quiet initially but around half way across we climbed to the top of a slope and were spotted by large young cows from the other side of the field. They were a distance away and we’re seasoned walkers with plenty of experience. We stayed close together and walked quietly and consistently.

It started with one bullock taking notice and like an excited puppy started enthusiastically making it’s way towards us. It was joined by more and more until we had a sizeable number behind us. I turned to face them and they stopped and leaned slightly back with heads low and pensive. I softly said hello and we continued to walk slowly, quietly and made sure our youngest member was protected. They lunged forwards a few times but held back…. playing.

It was really scary, especially when they started to get in front of us also. We did manage to cross the stile safely – but it felt like forever to complete the crossing. They didn’t hurt us, but maybe that’s because we have some experience and were extremely careful with our movements. When we completed our crossing we had the entire herd stood looking at us from the other side of the fence.

We need better marked PROW’s as the signs were appalling in this area apart from the farm on Old Gayton Gorse who had painted the way markers and stiles in high vis paint, which I thought was brilliant. The other farms however had very poorly maintained infrastructure and paths marked, slowing our progress considerably. Cattle were clearly used in multiple areas. We had encountered cattle earlier in the walk but they were young females and weren’t a problem.

If it wasn’t for access to GPS crossing that field where we were surrounded could have been very, very dangerous as it wasn’t clear exactly where our safe exit was.

Christina had 40 horned cattle charging at her

Report number:900

Date of incident: 3/7/24

Site of incident: The field near Warlies in Waltham Abbey

Report: We were aware there are cows in this field with baby’s but I have done this walk for years with no problems.

Two of us were walking, we couldn’t see the cows as we began, we always give them a wide birth, the dog was on a long lead but all of a sudden as we came down the hill the cows were in view. They were a large herd, with calves, cows (with horns) and heifers. I put the dog on a short lead. We stopped looked at the cows, they were just looking, and so we carried on walking as we’ve always done.

All of a sudden about 40 of them ran at us full speed. We ran as fast as we could and jumped into a tiny fenced off area, no bigger than 2m squared. It was a small barbed wire square around a tree. All of them swarmed us butting their heads at the fences and waving their horns around. I have never been so terrified in all my life, at one point I thought we might have to climb the tree. If we made any noise the cows just got more aggressive and loud so we had to stay quiet, they didn’t leave us.

We were stuck in there for a nearly an hour and had to call police to come and rescue us. I can’t believe we actually made it out, only with a few cuts of barbed wire, it was the most petrifying thing I have ever experienced.

I did see a sign that said to be aware of cattle and keep your dog close.

Jackie was headbutted to the ground

Report number:899

Date of attack: 27/06/24

Site of attack: what 3 words – Chopper.indulges.rates (possibly here) on the footpath from Daymark to Higher Town, St Martin’s in the Scilly Isles.

Report: Two of us were walking a there and back linear route, with no dog. The field had appeared empty at the start of our walk, (although we had noticed a sign saying ‘Cows in Field.’) When we returned to pass through it there were 2 bullocks (I think they were Red Devon) standing by the gate we needed to exit through. We approached giving them as much space as possible. As we passed, one of the cattle put his head low, took 4-5 paces towards me and headbutted me over onto the ground. Once on the ground I thought he was going to continue and trample me – it was an intentional ‘lunge’ and pretty frightening being headbutted and having an animal of that size and weight go for you, thank goodness the bullock moved away after that.

I was scraped and bruised and had numbness and tingling in my arm/hand for 3 days afterwards which I guess was nerve damage from the fall.

If cattle are feisty or mischievous they should not be kept in a field with a PROW. There should be separation. As a consequence, I would be unlikely ever to walk a PROW shared with livestock again which is very limiting. We did nothing to provoke or spook the animal (walking around it, giving as much distance as possible) and had no pets with us. I would be interested to know if others have been attacked here too.

Walkers and Farmers – we can help each other.

We all know that feeling, looking at a map of an unfamiliar area, trying to plan a route. Walkers enjoy the freedom that access to our footpath network gives them; most walkers are careful to respect the farmer’s land and often help keeping the footpaths clear, they can notify farmers if livestock are lose or look ill. Well tended farms with farmers following HSE guidelines help walkers. We all get to enjoy our beautiful countryside.

Scared out of a field: Twice in as many months!

Report number:892

Date of incident: 23/06/24

Site of incident: Close to OS Grid Ref: SY 63456 82538 on footpath going East to West, just south of Tatton Farm near Chickerell, in Dorset

We were walking on a public footpath in Dorset around 16:00 hrs. We had entered a field with a few cows in, so had put the 2 dogs on their leads. The cows were looking at us from a distance, though not approaching. We kept looking back to ensure they didn’t follow. All of a sudden, we became aware of another, different herd of cows ahead numbering approximately 25. We could see the stile we were making for, but the cows quickly surged towards us. My wife, who was very scared began to run with the dog she was looking after. I released my dog so it might follow her whilst I could try to slow the cows down, to allow them to make it to the stile. We are aware of the advice not to run, but it is a natural instinct to remove yourself from imminent danger. I did not run, just walking fast and shouting as loud as I could at the cows, swearing and repeatedly shouting no. This did slow down their approach, but did not stop it. I had now got close to the stile and continued to fend them off while my wife managed to get the dogs and herself over the stile (no doggy door to make things easier!). The herd continued to approach me as I got over the stile and swarmed around it after I had cleared it. I would not necessarily describe the cows as aggressive, although my wife did notice some leg stomping. They appeared youngish and it may just have been exuberance on their part, but the danger of contact with some very heavy animals was very real. This is our second near miss encounter in as many months and I am beginning to wonder whether my dogs (two flat coat retrievers) are of particular interest to cows.

We should not be intimidated out of using public footpaths. Warning signs are not enough. Landowners/farmers need to be more conscious of this issue. After all, they expect us to be sensible and considerate!