Near-miss Stories – Cattle Safety

Cattle charged at walkers – this could have been prevented by a simple fence

Incident number: 1229
Response ID 329,262,000 Date: 16/4/26
Location: Preston Bagot, Warwickshire. Grid reference 176644

2 people, no dog

Report: “Walking around the edge of a field the cows charged. I had to climb over a barbed wire fence while my husband ran around the corner of the field.
It would be great to see special fencing protecting public footpaths that are frequently used for cattle grazing.”
Minor injuries were sustained and the incident was reported to the police & the local authority who said they would log the incident and that it is important to report them.

Charged at by a cow in Derbyshire (Pattern of previously aggressive livestock behaviour in this area)

Incident number: 1228
Response ID 329,163,280
Date: 8/4/26 Location ///farm.prepare.character, Between Unstone Green and Dronfield,Derbyshire 2 People, with 2 dogs on lead

Incident Summary: “On 8th April 2026, while traversing the established public footpath southwest from Highgate Lane, our party (two adults and two canine companions on leads) encountered an aggressive bovine. The animal emerged from a previously restricted lane and initiated a direct, targeted approach toward us. Despite attempts to deter the animal through non-aggressive gesturing, it continued to pursue us at an increasing pace. During the retreat, a group of five to six calves was observed at ///structure.ports.snooze, suggesting the cow was exhibiting protective maternal aggression.”

“We successfully evacuated the field via the stile at Highgate Lane without physical injury, though the encounter posed a significant risk to our safety.”

Observations on Public Safety: “This is not an isolated event; there is a pattern of aggressive livestock behaviour at this specific location, frequently cited by other members of the walking community. Historically, the risk was mitigated by functional fencing and hedgerows that separated cattle from the public right of way. However, due to a lack of maintenance, these boundaries are no longer effective. It is our assessment that the current management of the land fails to meet necessary health and safety standards for public access, creating an avoidable danger to footpath users.”
“I think that landowners and livestock owners have a duty of care towards public footpaths and provide safe passage across grazing areas, and should be able to be reported more easily, when this falls short.”

Update: “I submitted a report to the Health and Safety Executive and have already received an email response from them. They have contacted the farmer and reminded them of their responsibilities. Which, I think, has resulted in some wonderful news to share since my last update. I am happy to report that the cows, calves, and the bull have all been moved to a large enclosed field which does not have any footpaths running through it—a great result!”

Andy meets an aggressive group of bullocks

Report 1225

Response ID 328,980,041

Location Footpath between Clwyd gate and farm Plas-y-Nant, nearest large town, Ruthin. Approx grid ref SJ155584, in field just out of woods, exit gate was further obstructed by electric fence.

Single walker, no dog, encounters an aggressive group of bullocks

Andy’s Report: “Leaving gate from the wood and progressing towards my exit gate I could see many young beasts at the far end of the field. About halfway across the field they noticed me and charged, they charged to almost touching distance, over 20 animals, it felt very aggressive.

The field was very broken up making it difficult to keep my footing as I had to back away whilst making a lot of noise and throwing clods of earth to keep them away, I got to the gate only to find it was obstructed by an electric fence which I trampled to get out.

Andy comments: “If I was not a military veteran accustomed to danger I would not have got out of this field uninjured. There should be a more robust process to report to ‘authorities’ and some recognition by police that I have at least the same worth as a sheep.”

Charged at by cattle

Report 1224

Response ID 328,834,077

Location: Doynton High Street – field off footpath up the steps on the right when leaving the village along the High Street

Date 07/03/26

Katie’s report: “I entered the field with my dog on a short lead, I did not see any cows. As I walked into the field and turned I realised a group of black cattle, possibly bullocks, were there. My dog was very close to me. The cows started chasing and charging towards me. I had to pick up my dog and scream at them to get them to stop. They chased me to a stream which I fell into trying to escape.”

Katie comments: “There should be signs!!!!! Or even better, no cattle on fields with footpaths.”

Lack of public safety on SW Coastal Path

Report 1223

Response ID 328,818,368

Date of incident 5/3/26

Location South West coastal Path – south of Hartland Quay towards Speke’s Mill. What 3 words “qualified.shave.digested” North Devon coast.

Zoe’s Report: “Arriving at the gate on my return journey I was surprised to see cows there. I entered slowly and both dogs were by my side, but it was clear they were interested and I retreated back behind the gate as they were too dense and close. I waited for 15 minutes (since it was getting dark) and saw they had moved a little way off. I crept back into the field and started walking again, but one of the bullocks spotted my dog who was about 5 metres infront of me – the other was behind me. The bullock started running towards us and the whole herd then turned and started running towards us. My youngest dog sprinted around the outside of the herd and drew their attention away a little, but she then looped back around to me. My older dog who stayed by my side did not run away and now the bullocks were coming straight towards us again and now my exit was blocked as my young dog ran back to me and looped the bullocks back to me. The only place I could go was over the rusted barbed wire rotten matchstick fence and perch on the cliff edge.

This was frightening enough until a bullock stepped over the fence to now join me and my dogs on the cliff edge (150m cliff) the bull then snorted and chased my youngest who ran towards the cliff edge and then skirted around ….back to me. I then crawled along a half metre wide section between fence and cliff with my dogs so the bullock couldn’t follow – I then pushed my youngest dog back out into the field to run away …. As she seemed to be the one they were most interested in. I laid low with my older dog and called the police for help as I truly felt my only exit was taking my chances hanging on to the cliff as the bullocks were snorting and running and sliding on their front hooves towards me.

After another 10 mins the bullock stepped back over the fence and left us, but the herd still surrounded the outcrop of the cliff top. After another 10-15 mins the herd moved far enough away that I felt I could make the gate. Thankfully I found my youngest dog waiting by the gate for me. I was rescued and accompanied back across the field by 2 farmers, one of which reported it wasn’t the first time this has happened and they had been pushing the landowner to put proper fencing in. Especially since he has received money in grants for fencing. Thankfully I’m safe, but totally traumatised and am scared to continue along the SWCP.”

Zoe adds: “I seriously would like to see a decent cow proof fence keeping the cattle away from the cliff edge and giving space to people walking the coastal path. Notices for walkers to be warned of animals in fields and updated. An up to date website that walkers can refer to and plan their walk around fields with cows. I was blocked from walking on my return journey of a long walk and an alternative route would have added on many, many miles at night.”

Frightened walker asks “Surely the footpath could be fenced off just like it had been done leading up to this section?”

Incident number:1220

Response ID: 328,248,081

Location: Back Forest Farm, River Dane, near Wincle & DaneBridge, Peak District ///wasps.promote.homelands

Date 26/01/26

Single walker, no dog

SY’s Report: “I was heading back to DaneBridge/Wincle from Gradbach/Black Forest. I’d walked by Back Forest Farm along the path between their fields and came to a gate/stile. As I crossed over the stile and looked into the field ahead I could see that there were cows on the footpath and the surrounding field which was on higher ground. The cows saw me and seemed calm and didn’t seem fussed by my appearance. The path is narrow and there are trees immediately after the gate/stile and along the stream/river to the right which is down a steep bank. Because the cows were on the path I attempted to walk to the left of them on slightly higher ground I then heard stampeding and I looked uphill to see a cow running down the hill towards me and rearing its front legs and bucking – it was only a few meters away, I looked to my right and there were cows on the footpath who were now spooked by the cow and I had no choice but to run towards these cows away from the chasing cow and jumped down a very steep bank into the little stream/river and hoped that they wouldn’t chase me. I looked back and they all seemed very agitated so I tried to climb up the steep bank on the other side which was hard as it was wet and muddy and the ground kept falling away from me but there was no other way out. I eventually managed to climb up and ran back to the gate/stile. I was very lucky to escape and I think in part that was due to the fact that I could jump down a steep bank and climb out which wasn’t easy.”

Further comment: “The farmer has a lot of land here so why are the cows being allowed in the small section with the only footpath? Surely the footpath could be fenced off just like it has been done leading up to this section?”

This walker was rescued by a kind person from Denston Hall

Incident number: 1218

Response ID: 320,795,463

Date of incident: 29.12.2025

Location: Below Denston Hall, Denston Suffolk

Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW

L.Cooper’s story

“I saw a group of cows ahead and waited to see if they would move. As I couldn’t get past without going near to them I backtracked and entered the field high above them. They followed at speed and cut me off. Every time I tried to walk away they followed. My GSD was on a lead but highly agitated the closer they got. I backed up to a tree with her and they stopped, surrounding us about 15 feet away. I tried to get away again but they kept closing in. I crossed a deep ditch and climbed the back. All but one stopped. The largest followed me. I was too exhausted and afraid to move. Finally someone from Denston Hall came over as they had seen me struggling. They took me into their garden.”

They added

“These cattle roam free across a huge parkland but there is only one footpath it would not seem unreasonable to restrict them from the footpath especially when they have calves.”

We can’t walk on footpaths as blocked by cattle in Lower Weare Somerset

Incident number: 1216

Response ID: 318,553,250

Date of incident: 23.11.25

Location: Lower Weare, Somerset, the public foot path just by the primary school, 2nd field in, (what 3 words /// lurching.truly.relocated)

Status: Single walker with dog on lead on PROW

Gino’s story

“The first field by the school sometimes has female cows, the next field after the gate has a feeding area right by the gate & is 3 large fields joined & it’s always full of bulls not sure how old but there very big, they might be bullocks, we got chased by them as they were blocking the foot path & exit, there is another field round here the same happened, you can’t seem to use any of the public foot paths all the fields are always filled with bulls, got chased by about 20 previously at another spot I’ll also report”

A terrifying experience that could have been a lot worse

Incident number: 1213

Response ID: 317,470,880

Date of incident: 26.10.25

Location: Footpath near the town of Eye in Suffolk, a few fields away from the playing field/par

Status: Two people with dog on lead on PROW

Holly’s story

“Footpath we were following passed through a field with cows in. My husband went in first on his own and they seemed very friendly and inquisitive, coming right up to him. I had our dog on a short lead, she is a small dog and wasn’t barking or being aggressive. I went to enter the field and after a couple of steps a large female cow tried to tip me over from behind. I didn’t fall over but let go of the dogs lead by accident. When I turned around I saw the herd of about 20 cows all charging after our dog. I was terrified they would trample her. She is quick and so managed to out run them an get over to the far corner of the field. I ran around the edge of the field to reach her, picked her up and then ran to the nearest gate to get out. The cows were quickly following us and we only just got out in time. A terrifying experience that could have been much worse, I’ve never experienced aggression from cows like that before. Some of the cows looked a little bit smaller so perhaps were young ones which would explain the aggression.”

A close shave in Shotley Suffolk

Incident number: 1212

Response ID: 317,461,846

Date of incident: 26.10.25

Location: Between end of Wades Lane and River Orwell at Shotley, Suffolk

Status: Two people without dog on PROW

Dee’s story

“Cows circled us, one with horns butted my husband several times. We tried to stay next to the hedge. The cow wouldn’t leave us alone. The other cows followed but ran ahead. We turned towards the gate and ran, cow came after us. I fell over, went into full panic attack mode. My husband stayed calm and helped me to the gate. It was a close shave, I felt they were on the verge of stampeding.”

Dee adds “Cows shouldn’t have been there. They were aggressive and dangerous”

Cotswold Way walk cattle blocking exit routes.

Incident number: 1208

Response ID: 317,248,049

Date of incident: 10.10.25

Location: On The Cotswold Way. On the approach to Winchcombe just before Puck Pit Lane GL54 5JQ

Status: Two people with dogs on lead on PROW

“We were walking on The Cotswold Way. The two of us entered a very large field with two very quiet, placid dogs, both on leads. Due to the steep topography of the field we couldn’t see the cattle initially and also couldn’t see the direction of the path and where the exit gate was. It was a very large area, consisting of two connecting fields which were not very visible and the exit gate was not very obvious. As we headed over the top of the first field we then saw a small group of young, black bullocks eating at a trough. We couldn’t see where the path went but decided to give the cattle a wide berth and, as they were busy eating, they looked docile and ok to walk past at a distance. As we continued, the field then dipped down towards a dividing ditch and then into a second connecting field. We then noticed one of the cows at the trough had taken an interest in us and was walking quickly towards the bridge over the ditch to the second field. We were lower down and had to cross the ditch without a bridge as we were avoiding the cattle. We still didn’t know where the exit gate was and where the path went. As we crossed the ditch into the second field we then saw a second group of black young bullocks but they seemed far enough away in the corner but then we realised they were close to the exit gate which we could now see. However, these cattle started mooing which I knew was a bad sign. At the same time the bullock who had taken an interest, was now running into the second field towards us and was now bringing the first group with him. We were both really scared but tried not to panic. We walked quickly but quietly. By this time the second group were becoming increasingly interested. We were terrified by this point but just managed to push our dogs under the barbed wire and clamber over the gate before the cattle got to us. At this point the gate was surrounded by both groups of cattle. We had reached safety just in time but we then saw two runners in the field coming towards the gate. They stopped and looked very apprehensive. We tried to distract the cattle and kept them looking at us rather than the runners and they were eventually able to get through them and over the gate. We knew there were more walkers behind us on the Cotswold Way route and we just hope they managed to get through these fields ok.”

They want “More rights of way paths fenced off from cattle, especially routes that are regularly walked, such as The Cotswold Way and other long distance trails. These incidents are becoming more and more common and are really terrifying.”

Sprint to Ugborough Beacon to avoid aggressive cow

Incident number: 1206

Response ID: 317,153,345

Date of incident: 7.10.25

Location: Near South Brent Devon(What 3 words ///nuggets.inspects.owns)

Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW

Reporter’s story

“I was walking my 7 month old golden retriever, there were some cows about 150 away to the left. Passed several cows and had no problems. The cow started making a move towards us, we went the other way and it galloped straight up to us in a standoff. It started snorting and shaking its head then went for my dog, my dog lashed back in self defence which stunned the cow. We made a swift getaway having to run through unpathed bogs.

Once we got around 200m the cow appeared to make its way towards us, so we had to full on sprint towards Ugborough beacon to get shelter if it did come again”