Miscellaneous – Cattle Safety

River crossing to avoid cows in the Cotswolds

Incident number: 1195

Response ID: 316,692,712

Date of incident: 08.09.25

Location: Between Bibury and Coln st Aldwyns

Status: Lone walker with no dog on PROW

Sarah’s story “I was walking through a field by myself. I saw a herd of cows (could not see calves) sat/stood by the gate I needed to go through. I did not get very close to them at all (and am already wary!) but decided to make a u-turn and not disturb them. As I turned, I heard one cow moo. They then all started and it sounded very loud and aggressive. They then started to run towards me, mooing all the time. I ran for some time in complete fear and panic. My only option was to get into river to get away from them.”

Sarah wants “Signs saying that there are cows in field and cows removed from public footpath”

Walkers hemmed in with cattle on the South Downs Way

Response ID: 316,520,166

Incident number: 1190

Date of incident: 26.8.25

Location: On the South Downs Way just to the East of Ditchling Beacon on an area of the path called Wester Brow.

Status: Couple with no dog on PRoW

Richard’s account:

“This area of the South Downs Way is hemmed in by barbed wire fences on both sides and becomes quite narrow. The entire way ahead between the fences was blocked by a herd of around 40 cows that were coming towards us. We had to divert into a neighbouring field using one of the few gates along that stretch and continue past the cows on a parallel field eventually having to get back on the path by an awkward climb over a barbed wire fence. This was the only way to avoid having to walk right through the middle of this large herd of cows. What is so annoying is that there is perfectly good grazing land on either side of the South Downs way – why did this threatening herd have to be on the path?”

Richard intends to report this to the National Park Authorities and adds “Large herds of cows should not be permitted on narrow sections of the South Downs way such as to cause walkers to have to divert off the path.”

The Way Forward – a message for land occupiers

This is an article that was published in Farmers Weekly and written by one of COWS members, Dr Jerry Alderson, who was asked to write it after appearing on a Farmers Weekly podcast.

Imagine this. You are in your local town, about to use a footpath across a patch of grass which you have used many times before. At the path entrance is a new sign stating ‘DANGER’. There is no explanation. The path was never signposted. Neither has it been closed. No alternative route is offered. What would you do?

Surely the local council would keep you safe, if they were concerned? Is this a hoax? You may feel frustrated that your way is effectively blocked by a danger you cannot see and don’t understand. Would an alternative route take you into more danger, or on to private land? Should you risk it, or walk away?

This may seem far-fetched, but walkers in the countryside are faced with dilemmas like this every day.

Bull warning sign, but it was the other cattle that caused the trouble

Rights of way are exactly that – a RIGHT to pass. Nothing more, nothing less. These highways are often ancient, predating the enclosure act and private farmland as we know it.

I am a former farm-worker, now a GP, landowner and lifelong walker. I am a staunch supporter of British farming and the need to strengthen and improve UK food self-sufficiency. I believe that these two interests can peacefully co-exist.

Farms can be dangerous – look at the annual death toll published by HSE. Whilst a land occupier (owner or tenant) may not automatically owe a duty of care to users of a right of way crossing their land, any injury to such a user resulting from negligent or dangerous practices could lead to prosecution.

It is an OFFENCE to block or even discourage the lawful use of a right of way. Non-specific warning signs implying ‘danger’ could be used by unscrupulous occupiers to discourage use. Regularly keeping cattle in fields crossed by a right of way without any form of mitigation of the potential danger – fencing for example – seems reckless. Recent research published by killercows.co.uk shows that ALL cattle have the potential to be dangerous despite current HSE guidance.

New signs warning of dangerous cattle after the attack

Making it difficult to use a right of way so that it falls into disuse does not remove the right of way and will likely lead to walkers finding their own, less suitable, way across your land.

Most walkers do not intend to trespass, damage crops or injure livestock. But neither do they have the in-depth appreciation of the potential dangers on your farm that you have. Subconsciously, they are relying on the presumed professionalism of you, the land occupier, to keep them safe by identifying or mitigating any dangers. ONLY YOU CAN DO THIS.

Most land occupiers do not want the death or injury of a member of the public on their conscience.

Wouldn’t it be in everyone’s interests to assist walkers to move efficiently and safely along rights of way crossing farmland, by ensuring that signposting is clear, unambiguous and undamaged, paths unobstructed and gates and stiles well maintained? Clearly identifying dangers adjacent to paths, such as working machinery and slurry-pits, also makes sense. Where fields containing a right of way regularly contain livestock – the erection of a stock fence keeps livestock away from people, and dogs away from livestock. For temporary separation of livestock and people, an electric fence may be more versatile.

If you are not responsible for footpath maintenance on your land, suggesting these measures to the relevant authority would make sense. You know your land better than anyone, after all.

Returning to our original scenario – how useful do you think a sign saying ‘bull in field’ really is? It neither removes the danger nor offers an alternative. SURELY, WE CAN DO BETTER!

5 Spoiled walks – more frightened walkers

The dilemma of meeting cattle in the middle of a long walk

Incident number 1140
Date: 13.10.24
Site: North of East Harling. It was a route marked on OS Maps that went through East Harling Common. W3W location: ///mystified.seats.chills
Type of cow: Probably young Aberdeen Angus bullocks.
1 walker

Report: “I was on a long walk and came to this field of cattle, unfortunately I had walked miles to get here and there were no visible routes around. There were maybe 10 cows in the field. I accessed escape routes before I entered. Unfortunately the fence had been placed tight against a treeline, with a very steep drop
into a ditch. If I had to climb over the fence, I would have fallen into the water filled ditch beyond. I knew it would be tricky, and weighed up heading back, but it would have added 5 miles onto my walk so I proceeded. The stile on the other side was unfortunately slap bank in the middle of the other side. I walked around the edge of the field, away from the cattle. Unfortunately they immediately started heading over towards me. I continued to walk around the perimeter. By the time I reached the corner on the other side, a group of around 5 of the cattle had gathered around me and one of them was kind of bouncing on its front legs towards me and then backing off. I could not tell if he was being playful or aggressive. As I had reached the corner, I noticed that the corner fence pole had some diagonal supports which I thought I could use to climb over. There was a farm driveway on the other side here, so I threw my backpack over the fence and climbed/fell over out of harms way. I was especially frightened after when I was thinking about that fact I was on my own in the middle of nowhere, and had I been injured, might not have been discovered for hours or days.”
Additional comment: “For me, the solution is, if you want to put cattle on a field that has a public footpath on it, you must either: Give an alternative route around the hazard or Place the fencing at least 1.5m from the edge of the field so people can safely walk around the perimeter. I also think that farmers
should be open to prosecution for negligence with very harsh penalties including prison if anybody is killed or injured by cattle whilst traversing a public right of way to make them think twice about doing it. On another route I walked called Boudicca Way, I crossed 5 fields in succession with “Bull in field” signs. All fields were thankfully empty, but we all know the signs were there to stop people using the footpaths.”

Jay has a spoiled walk caused by cattle blocking the footpaths

Incident number 1139
Date: 08.06.25
Site: Field behind Parks Ave south Wingfield Alfreton DE557NL between Parks Ave and Manor Rd
1 dog, 1 person

Report: “I wanted to use the right of way to get to Manor Rd. As I entered the field 3 cows were on the right of way footpath, I thought I could just go around them but one charged at me very fast so I retreated back out of the field. the other two cows also ran toward me and tried to get through the gap to get out of the field. I walked away and toward the other right of way that runs behind the school. The three cows followed me. I walked past a few houses and back by the field, and the cows ran again at me, but a fence stopped them. I now saw that a huge herd was on the foot path behind the school, I knew I could no longer go on the walk I had set out for as it was not safe to cross the field on either foot path I and returned home. “
Additional comment: “I would like farmers to evaluate all their cows to see if they run at or chase people, the ones that do should only be placed in fields with no public right of way.”

Excited, curious and dangerous cattle

Incident number: 1137
Date: 9.6.25
Site: Footpath through field to Lower Preston Farm. Preston Lane. Lydeard St Lawrence. Nr Stogumber Somerset
I person and dog

Report: “I entered field via the footpath gate, it appeared empty. The field slopes down halfway across when following the path to lower Preston cottages. This is where I first saw the cows, one started
coming towards me immediately, then all the cows (bullocks) ran away from me, circled round and lined up next to each other, looking at me. By this time I had already decided to get out and opened a gate into the farmyard, my dog went first, followed by me, I got the gate closed , turned to look at the bullocks in their formation, then they charged up to the gate and fence. I made a loud noise and waved my arms, they jumped back, but only a few metres then came back. So if I hadn’t got out of the field I would have no chance of getting away from them. They were completely disinterested in my dog. I know they are just excited and curious but it’s very frightening and obviously dangerous.”
Additional comment: “Bulls and bullocks should not be in fields where there are footpaths unless the footpaths can be temporarily rerouted and well signed.”

Aggressive cattle caused a spoiled walk

Incident number 1136
Date: 9.6.25
Site: Trans Pennine trail and Howden 20. Asselby Island area.
2 people, 1 dog

Report: “We were walking the dog on a leash along the public right of way. There were cows off the path to the side, they saw us and all moved onto the footpath. My dog showed no aggression towards them not did she bark. We immediately turned around and walked back the way we came. The group of cows followed us for half a mile back to the gate. One started running towards us at one point mooing loudly. I was very scared for our and my dog’s safety. I no longer feel safe walking near cattle. We’ve had no problems with cattle before. This was the first time they followed us.”
Additional Comment: “I’d be worried this could happen to other people and if a dog was to bark at them it would lead to injury to the dog or owner”

Sign suggesting if walkers felt unsafe they should take a different route – but no alternative route signposted.

Report number: 1129

Date of incident: 2/4/25

Location: Near to Lexhayne Farm, Colyton, near Seaton in Dorset.

2 people no dog

We found a handwritten sign pinned to a stile saying the field we were entering contained cows and calves and a single bull (it gave the bull’s name, maybe Harry?). It finished by saying if walkers felt unsafe they should look for a different route. After reading the sign we saw a small herd of cows about 100 m away on the far side of the field. We could not not identify a bull and any calves present were not small. Our route was along the side of the field furthest away from the cows and they seemed calm so we felt safe enough to continue on footpath along field edge. About half along that edge we noticed the cows were slowly heading towards us. About 2 thirds of the way along we could see they were closing in and speeding up. We were forced to the very edge of the field by the bank of stream and surrounded. We felt forced to ford the stream after one cow became aggressive. As the farmer was aware that the cows created a real hazard to walkers on a known footpath there should have been a signed safe path provided either through the field or in adjacent fields.“

Multiple recent reports of aggressive cattle

Report number: 1118

Incident date: 26/5/25

Location: Footpath FP132 near Shabden Park and Parsons Green in Surrey.

2 people no dog

Report: “We entering the sloped elongated field, we stayed were on the upper edge where the PROW path was, the cows were grouped on the lower edge of the field by the trees. As we headed across the field staying by the fence line the cows started to shadow us and then as we came off the rise where we had to drop down and cross the open part of the field to reach the exit stile, about 100 yards from the exit stile the cows started to charge us. 3 or 4 at first. I raised my arms and walking stick and shouted ‘Stop’ to give my partner time to get to the stile and over it. The first group stopped momentarily, but as I turned to go to the stile, my partner shouted a warning to me as a 2nd larger group of about 20 cows came forward to charge me. I just made it to the stile and over it in time. As we walked across the next empty field, two female walkers who had been about 5 mins behind us, appeared at the top of the field where we had just been and started to descend to the exit stile. I shouted a warning but by then the herd of cows were half way up the slope to the 2 female walkers. The walkers fortunately were able to climb over a wooden fence, one of the few around without barbed wire on, to escape the charging cows. Hopefully they found a safe way out of there as we lost sight of them after about 5 mins. There was definitely intent in the cows actions to trample us and the 2 female walkers. Further on in our walk, we entered the estate of Gatton Park, where we saw a sign on the Stile saying ‘Beware the Bull’. After walking on the PROW for about 3-4 mins, we saw a large heard of cows and a large Bull gathered in the corner of the field where the exit stile was. All of the side fences were barbed wire so we would not have been able to easily escape the field if there was a threat. We decided to be cautious and retrace our steps and leave the park and looked for an alternative but longer route to avoid further contact with any more cows.”

“We reported to Surrey county council as this could be a real danger. Spread the word, I didn’t realise how easily and quickly we could be at risk from cows. It has definitely made my partner more nervous.”

Report number: 1119

Date of incident: 26/5/25

Location: Footpath between Grove farm and Toolbrook Corner near Weston-on-the-green, Oxfordshire. SP 5190 18039 on the OS ap

1 person no dog

Report: “I had walked through several other fields with cows in prior to the scare, even passing within six foot of a very large, docile herd a few fields earlier. However, in this field four young cows began to charge as soon as they saw me, and by that time I was about 40 yards from the stile. By this time the stile was too far away so I ended up climbing a heavily barbed wire fence into a private wood. Once over the fence I was initially concerned they’d push through. Five minutes later though I could see from the road that they were still in the same place looking over the fence. Incredibly stressful, and not my first experience with charging cows. This was a very poorly maintained public footpath so it is quite possible that the landowner doesn’t expect people to use it, or was trying to put people off using it.”

“There should be fencing around field borders and footpath detours offered if cows are in fields.”

Report number: 1120

Date of incident: 25/5/25

Location: Grid Reference SY92928 82029 Knowle Hill Public Bridleway near Corfe Castle

2 people no dog

Report: “A herd of cows were attracted by a green laner in a landrover discovery, who then drove off as we were walking past the car – we were left with a herd of cows (about 20) all very close together, very agitated within 5m of us – looking straight at us they started to come towards us but we moved quickly away. Was very, very frightening and to be honest I was quite annoyed that the green laner had stopped by the cows, agitated them, then drove off and left us very exposed.”

Report number: 1122

Date of incident: 28/5/25

Location: Wigginton nr Tamworth Staffordshire prow , field adjoining Syerscote lane. Nr St Leonards church school.

2 people no dog

Report: “We saw the cows in the field and we tried to avoid them but they came after us. I told my wife to head straight to the stile but don’t run. I walked backwards. The cows tried to surround me and were displaying aggressive behaviour. Heads lowered, stamping front hooves. I fortunately managed to reach the stile as they got within 4 feet of me. If they had managed to surround me or I had tripped it would of been very bad. I’ve reported to LA, but Staffordshire County Council didn’t seem sure about what to do.”

“I have written to my MP but I’m not holding out much hope”

Report number: 1123

Date of incident: 30/5/25

Location: ///deflation.employ.gloom https://w3w.co/deflation.employ.gloom Public footpath through farmers field near Letherens Lane, North Tawton, Devon on Devonshire Heartland Way path.

1 person one dog on lead

Report: “I was a witness to a young girl with two small dogs. She came through a gate at the top of the field with the cows nearby. I am unsure if the dogs were on the lead or being put on their leads. The herd of about 10 cows approached the girl and the dogs. The younger dog bolted in fear and was chased at speed down the field by the herd. It zigzagged to avoid the cows and eventually ran towards me at the bottom of the field. It jumped through the gate and I secured it on the other side with my dogs. I called to the girl to say the dog was safe. She managed to pick up her older dog but the cows then turned on her. She remarkably calmly walked down the field towards me and several of the cows mock charged her all the way to the bottom of the field. She got safely through the gate and I reunited her with her terrified dog. I decided to return home by another route not trusting the clearly very riled and frisky cows.”

“I think the girl was a little shaken, she didn’t say very much but I ensured she was ok before I left her. I was quite shaken witnessing the near miss. The charging cows ran within two feet of her. I felt helpless to do anything to prevent it. I was shaken as a witness. I don’t know how the girl was other than she looked a bit shocked. There should be warning signs about the volatility of these cows. The public footpath should be separated from the cows in the field. The cow owner’s name and contact details clearly posted at the entrances to the field.”

Report number: 1125

Date of incident: 31/5/25

Report: “My partner and I were walking our three German Shepherd dogs along the Public Footpath on Market Weston Fen which is a narrow track with many bushes, trees and blind corners blocking the view to less then 10m in many places. We had got virtually all the way round our walk but there were 17 young cows blocking our exit at the gate. We tried to shoo the cows away but they just turned on us, chasing us which was terrifying for both of us and our dogs. The dogs were terrified, pulling on their leads until virtually choking themselves as they’re slip leads.”

“I’m extremely worried that there’s going to be a serious accident on this site, so I have reported the incident to the HSE, LA and police.”

Killer Cows statement: all of these attacks happened on public rights of way, none of the reporters did anything to upset the cattle yet all were threatened or charged at. It makes no difference whether a dog is present or not. These are all recent and could all have been prevented by fences.

Cows frightening walkers on coastal path from Mothercombe

Incident number: 1093

Response ID: 314,213,800

Date of incident: 24.04.25

Location: On the coast path heading from Mothercombe towards Butcher’s Cove

Status: Couple with a dog on a lead on PRoW

C Taylor’s story

“My partner and I were walking with our dog on a lead along the coastal path which passed through a field of dairy cows belong to Surfing Cow Gelato. One cow started walking towards us. We stopped and my partner waved his arms and made a noise. The cow stopped but the herd began walking, then trotting, towards us. Suddenly then were all running towards us. We ran through an open gate and closed it which deterred them but there were other openings in the hedge/gate. We only just made it through — the cows were a few meters behind us. We then started walking and the cows slowed down, still following us but this time they were walking rather than running.”

This walker wants “ A sign warning walkers about the cows and a path separating walkers from the cows”

CoWS Team Update

COWS team are pushing to increase dialogue about our aims (notably the fencing off of footpaths from cattle) and since we live in different parts of England and Wales we are having zoom meetings to discuss our plans and talk about how to proceed.

So what are we doing?

We are notifying people that we now hold an excellent set of statistics on cattle attacks – and our experts should be called upon when asking how people can safely navigate a cattle field. We know cattle attacks are not rare and all near misses should be acted upon so a death or serious injury can be averted. We know that only separation of cows from walkers will keep walkers safe and cows unflustered.

Here’s where we’ve got to thus far –

1) We have sent a copy of our latest briefing (via email) to all senior coroners in England and Wales.

2) We are in the process of contacting (via email) major landowners with a copy of our latest briefing note and notification of any attacks or near misses that have occurred on their land. (This is tricky as we do not always know exactly who’s land the attacks occur on, but where we do know it is very useful information for the land owner.)

3) We are in the process of contacting organisations with sway in the farming world, eg: National Trust Board, The Ramblers, The Forestry Commission, HSE, with the above briefing report. We’ve also contacted the MP’s for agriculture and health and safety.

4) We are actively trying to use media channels to inform, but this is difficult as TV programmes seem to wish to use cattle “experts” who push the mainly useless advice of “respecting the cattle” and letting your dog go/or keeping it on a lead, depending where you are in the trampling process. We know from all your reports there is no safe way to walk through cattle (especially if you are alone or a couple) and dogs only feature in ½ of our reports (and the HSE’s)

5) Everyone who reports to us and agrees to us contacting them (and leaves an email address) is contacted by our team. This is to support those suffering from trauma and also to suggest/encourage them to also notify HSE and the landowner AND their MP – plus any other relevant sites. If we don’t notify them – they will continue to believe nothing needs to change. We also suggest that anyone injured sues the farmer – this is not encouraging money grabbing, many people are out of pocket with lack of salary, physio expenses, cost of necessary home help and need financial help.

6) Additional help is needed – We have many followers on Facebook, our website comes up very quickly now on an internet search, so we are getting more reports – it is wonderful that people are adding to our statistics (not so wonderful that attacks happen though) – more reports = more work for our team, so it would be great to have another member on our team just so when one of us feels a bit poorly, or wants to go on holiday we can without loosing our groups momentum. Send us an email if you can help cows.safety.group@gmail.com

7) You don’t have to be a core group member of COWS to help – here is a link to our latest briefing report https://killercows.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/oct-2024-cows-data-report-1.pdf and if you know anyone suffering a near miss or attack, then send the landowner this plus notice of the attack and suggest they fence off their cattle.

Child, footpath and boisterous cows!

Response ID 311,442,303
Incident number 1064
Date: 30.11.24
Site: Davenham, ///birds.intruders.storm
Type of cow: Group of bullocks
Dog: On lead at beginning of the incident.

Account: “I was walking with my 5 year old daughter and our Jack Russell terrier along a public footpath through the field. A cow started bucking it’s back legs and snorting at us. I told my five year old to run to the gate and I dropped the dog lead to run behind her. We managed to escape unscathed that day but it was an incredibly scary experience and I now avoid that field if the cows are present. I don’t think cows should be allowed on fields with footpaths.”

Yes – cattle should be respected!

We should respect cattle – the fields are their home. But how do we do this when a public right of way exists?

Written by one of Killer Cows Team.

A recent television programme on ITV infuriated one of our reporters as we were told we should “respect cattle, the field is after all, their home”. The suggestion being that walkers were doing something wrong when they walk across fields.

Here is a clip of the TV programme on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brinkworth_dairy/reel/DCpkaAXocL-/

We have seen this sentiment with requests to not park on grass verges where sheep graze as it is “their lunch”, and similarly on fields where cattle graze. When there is no public right of way, or no right to roam, we can understand these requests and can comply with them.

But, there is a problem with introducing this concept into a field which does have a public right of way (PROW), or right to roam. We can respect the fact the cattle feel this is their space, and may feel they or their calves are threatened by walkers. Sometimes, cattle are simply inquisitive about someone in “their field”. But, we walkers have a right to walk along a public right of way, and we are unable to do anything reliable to stop cattle acting on that feeling in an aggressive or boisterous way.

Aggressive and boisterous cattle can result in serious injuries for the walker. We have many examples of walkers doing everything “right” and still getting injured.

The people who should be respecting cattle’s feeling of ownership of their field are their owners.

Farmers can either avoid placing cattle in fields with a public right of way (PROW), or provide a barrier to separate walkers from the cattle. By providing a barrier, they would be keeping walkers out of the cattle’s home. This is often done on the Continent with well applied electric fences to which the herd has been introduced.

The electric fence can be moved for grazing purposes where public footpaths cross the middle of a field.
If the path follows the edge of a field, the farmers can either fence it off, or offer a temporary alternative footpath on the other side of the hedge (accepting that this path would have to be temporary as a public right of way cannot be deliberately or permanently re-routed). If there is a long term plan to have cattle in a field with a right of way, then fencing is more appropriate than rerouting.

Image by Hedy81 from Pixabay

So, yes, let’s all respect cattle, and recognise the fact that they find walkers an intrusion into their domain. Farmers can solve this by providing fencing to separate cattle from footpaths, and so create a feeling of security for their animals.

Walkers should not have to pay the predictable price, or be blamed repeatedly, for farmers lack of respect for the security of their own cattle.

A nimble (and lucky) M.P. wants contact details of cattle owners on access points into fields.

Response ID 310,378,370
Incident number 1047

Date: 30.04.24
Site: Public riverside walk from Huntington to New Earswick (Near York), North Yorkshire
Group of cows, lone walker, no dog.

MP`s Report: “Whilst walking along a public right of way I was approached and then chased by group of cows. I am 79 years of age and I still don`t know how I did it, but I had to vault over a fence (with barbed wire running along the top) to safety!! I was very fortunate not to have been hit by any of the cows. I suffered injuries to my hands whilst getting over the fence, caused by the barbed wire.”

MP adds: “Cows should not be able to be in the area where there is a public right of way. They need to be fenced off. Also there should be contact details of owner of land/farmer displayed at the field edge – I did not know who to contact to inform them of their unsafe animals.”

Killer Cows comment: We have just added the need to identify stock owners as one of our aims; it can help the farmers as people can inform them when their animals look unwell or running free and let them know when a cow is acting dangerously, so they can take steps to protect the public.

All near misses like this should be reported to the land owner, HSE, local council and your MP, yes it’s a faff, but without notification these people won’t know there’s a problem, and someone else may get injured – easy links on this page https://killercows.co.uk/page/

Concerned walker “those cows should not have been grazing in the area open to the public.”

Response ID 310,135,896
Incident number 1043

Date: 16.11.24
Site: Colyton, Devon. Walking by the river just outside of the town.
Group of Heifers, 2 walkers, no dog.

Report: “We were walking on a footpath along the riverside at around 16:00. There was a large herd of heifers, two were head butting each other in the middle of the path. There were lots of cows 20-30 in a large open field/space. We were cautious and trying to gauge their behaviour. One cow came running down the hill. We walked quickly around the edge of the field to avoid the animals. The cow moved aggressively towards us. We climbed over the fence and into a scrubby woodland patch. The cow did stop but was mooing and other cows came up to the woodland area. We scrambled through the scrub/woodland and came out onto a parallel road running above. We were lucky and made good decisions, giving us time to escape. It would have been very differing we had young children and/or a dog.

We are experienced walkers and have grown up in rural areas. In my opinion, those cows should not have been grazing in the area open to the public. It is far too close to Colyton and other people may end up having a more dangerous experience.”

Killer Cows comment: This is a near miss and could easily have resulted in a serious attack, we recommend that all incidents are reported to the Health and Safety Executive https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm plus inform the local MP and Devon Council https://www.devon.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem/map/map_src/prow/

Father’s quality of life severely impacted after a cattle attack nr Chipping Norton

Response ID 308,967,877

Report number: 1036

Date of attack: 15/08/24

Location: Chipping Norton – on a popular public footpath through a field to the left of the London Road as you come into town.

Report: “On 15th August, my 83yr old father was found seriously injured and trampled by cows on a public footpath near Chipping Norton. That accident has fundamentally changed his life. He regularly walked that path through the field by himself as part of his usual 4 mile route. There were sometimes cows in the field – which he simply ignored. On the day of the accident, we don’t know exactly what happened as he doesn’t remember it (nor the following 11 days when he was in hospital). At c. 3.30 in the afternoon he was seen by the farmer’s wife, who sent the farmer out to investigate. It was obvious he was badly hurt, and he was taken to A&E by ambulance. Due to his lack of consciousness and subsequent confusion, I was not called until c. 9.30 that night. When I got to A&E I discovered he had been trampled, resulting in major injuries.”