Near-miss Stories – Page 6

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.”

Mum and Daughter narrowly escaped charging cattle.

Incident number 1061
Response ID 311,395,044
Date: 1.11.24
Site: ///remit.page.code

It happened on a public foot path off the allotments in Upton St Leonards Village in Gloucestershire

Account: We entered the public footpath via the gate from the allotments. My 7 year old daughter and I and our dog on the lead started walking along the path. Within seconds of being in the field however the group of cows at the far end of the field (complete opposite side to where the public footpath is) started charging at us. Knowing the dangers of cows I quickly grabbed hold of my daughter and threw her back over the gate. In a state of panic I struggled to open the gate, only just opening it as the cows were right on top of me. I got through and closed the gate with the dog before they could cause any harm. It left my daughter in floods of tears from fright, she is now terrified of cows (and she is an animal lover) she had nightmares that night from it. We have not used that public footpath again from fear.

Mum comments: Warnings should be put on gates if there are cattle in fields that have public footpaths through them.

Another Incident with Duke of Edinburgh walkers

Incident Number: 1055, Response ID 310,532,049

Date of incident: 22/6/24

Location: Around Vale of the White Horse

No dog, 6/10 people

I was on my Duke of Edinburgh practice walk with my group when our map told us to follow a footpath which crossed a cow field containing several brown cows. At first we avoided eye contact with the cows but they began advancing on us. Most of my group successfully made it across the field and over the fence, safe from the cows. However I got left behind, still on the field. The cows surrounded me and I was stuck, every time I took a step they took one towards me and they stared at me and I was so scared I thought they were going to attack me. I didn’t know what to do, I was frozen in place, when one of my group mates threw a branch to distract them. The cows ran away and I quickly made my escape by sprinting to the fence and jumped over and I was safe.

It was such a scary experience and if I had been alone, I wouldn’t have known what to do. Since then I’ve always avoided cows.

Not injured, badly frightened.

Duke of Edinburgh walkers charged at by cattle

Response ID 310,407,936
Incident number 1051

Date: September 2024
Site: The walk began at Cannock chase, but unsure exactly where the incident occurred.
Group of cows, a group of young walkers, no dog

Description: I was doing D of E, we followed the “public footpath” sign and it took us to the field full of cows approximately 10 -15, I’m not sure. Unknowing what was about to happen me and my group strolled through the field, when suddenly the cattle chased us, they kept running at us and my friend managed to stop them. I was in tears as I was so scared. They chased us for a second time when we were trying to exit the field (we could not find the gate). Due to my state of confusion and how scared I was, I stayed at the back trying to find the exit and then they ran at us again. I had to throw my rucksack and me over a fence and it was so uncomfortable to do so. This was very frightening.
This incident was reported to the group leader.

Comment: I am now severely frightened of cows

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/

AJ thinks there should be a fence between cows and walkers

Response ID 310,379,901
Incident number 1049

Date: 28.04.24
Site: On the South West Coast path near Mawnan Smith, Cornwall. By Cows Beach, NT land I think
Group of heifers. 2 walkers, 1 dog

AJ’s report: We walked quietly straight along the footpath at the base of the field. The dog was on a leash; it doesn’t interact with other animals anyway. The cows ran down the hill towards us and continued to follow us. We walked more quickly and had to make strange sounds to keep them at bay. The only thing that kept them back was the leash my friend started to swing around as a last resort. At one point she shouted stop, while showing a stop hand signal, and the nearest cow seemed to understand it. They kept coming towards us, and it looked like they were trying to hunt us down as their eyes were very focused. I went from scared to terrified. I remember having the thought that the situation was going to end badly for us.
We were on a frequently used footpath so think there should be a fence between the cows and walkers. There was a woman on tv tonight who said walkers should respect the cows and that really upset me, we are always respectful and we did nothing wrong. I hope she normally has something more helpful to say and her words were just badly edited.”

Killer Cows comments: We agree with your comment AJ on the need for a fence between cows and walkers. If anyone experiences any cattle incident PLEASE report it to your MP, the area you’re walking through (in this case SW Coastal path) and HSE. So many incidents are unreported and unknown about – therefore it is believed there are few problems with cattle – we know differently!

https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

https://support.southwestcoastpath.org.uk/portal/s/report-a-problem

https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm

Biscuit is chased by cattle – despite farmer’s assurances

Response ID 310,378,687
Incident number 1048

Date: 06.09.23
Site: Plug.verges.ballooned Near Draycott, Somerset
Herd of dairy cows. Lone walker with dog, Biscuit, on a lead.

Biscuit’s owner has written this report “I was walking south on the footpath, as I proceeded a couple of big cows came galloping towards me. I yelled at them but they still charged, reared up and kicked. My 10 week old puppy panicked, slipped her collar and ran. The cows chased the puppy and I managed to get back over the stile and rescue her. Two farmers from the dairy witnessed the whole thing but did nothing.”

“The Monarchs Way runs through this area and has been a highly used national footpath and right of way until the Tizzard dairy was built and 600+ cattle have been left on the footpaths with no fencing for the public”

Biscuit’s owner was told by the farmer a couple of years ago “that his cows were safe to walk through when on a footpath.”

Helen and her sister surrounded and chased by aggressive cows in the Peak District.

Response ID 310,136,770
Incident number 1044

Date: 16.11.24
Site: On the path across the fields between Long Dale and Weaddow Lane near Elton, Derbyshire. Peak District National Park – Derbyshire Dales District Council. ///potential.comic.clusters SK 19246 60923
Type of cow: Group of Cows and bullocks. 2 walkers, dogs on lead.

Helen’s report: “The cows were in a large group near the footpath gate into the field. There was a feeder near by and some were eating from it. We entered the field with our three dogs on leads and kept to the footpath by the wall to go round the cows. They started coming towards us and we spread our arms wide and shouted for them to go away. They then charged towards my sister and her two dogs and pinned her against the wall. My dog had an orange coat on and they didn’t seem interested in her but, lead by two aggressive cows the others started jumping up on their back legs and surrounded my sister and her dogs. One cow head-butted her twice and was stamping its front legs trying to get to her dogs who were hiding behind her legs.
She started screaming and I ran back and shouted at the cows who did run back a bit. We quickly let all the dogs off the leads and I picked up my dog and she picked up her old dog. The cows then all started charging towards us and her young dog ran off down the path. The herd of at least 30 cows (who we think were bullocks but can’t be sure as we were in shock at the time) all charged off after her dog at full pelt. We followed down the hill as fast as we could to try and get to her dog, who is less than a year old. After about half a mile the cows all ran up across the field and my sister checked her dog tracker and saw the dog was ahead of us and had run up to the top of the field. She whistled her dog and it ran back to her. I had gone through a gate down the footpath track and she passed me her dog over the fence and walked back up to the gate to come down the path. We weren’t injured but at one point I did think the cows were going to kill my sister. She was so upset thinking they were going to kill her dog, and then worried that the dog had run off and would be lost and traumatised.
The dog that the cows were trying to get to was quite traumatised and was shaking like a leaf when we retrieved her.
I haven’t yet reported this incident but I am going to look at reporting it to the ramblers association and The Local Authority as we are very concerned that it could have caused very serious injury and could happen again to someone else.”

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/

Welsh Coastal path close call – saved by a dog

Response ID 309,843,934

Incident number 1041
Date of incident: 9/11/24
Location: Welsh Coastal path between Pembrey forest and Kidwelly https://w3w.co/inspector.lecturers.provoking

Description: Two of us were heading back after a long walk about 5pm, it had gotten dark. We met 2 young men coming towards us who warned us that cows had charged at them and they were now trying to find another way home, they did not have a dog with them. We had already walked 13 miles with less than 1 to go till we got to the car, plus we thought they might have been exaggerating, so we continued on.

“We came upon some cows that were blocking the path and going around them wasn’t an option (the surrounding area is wet) so we approached calmly but as soon as they’d seen us they started to approach, some faster than others and they charged then stopped, then charged then stopped. Their behaviour was very threatening. I put the light on my phone and used it to dazzle them and try get them to back off while walking backwards. I had my dog on lead who was calm and controlled initially, but when the cattle had basically surrounded us he started to bark and push them back, we had to continue to walk backwards because every time we turned they would charge. They eventually stopped following us but then we came across another group of about 20-30 blocking the path and had to go through it all again, I’m honestly not sure what would have happened if our dog hadn’t protected us.”
“I absolutely believe that our dog saved us and if something had happened to us we were in middle of nowhere and nobody would have found us for some time.”

Killer Cows notes this attack is on the same stretch of the coastal path as Glyn Austin’s attack – it appears that no safety measures have been introduced.

https://killercows.co.uk/2023/10/12/glyn-austins-tale-attack-on-welsh-coastal-path/

Rammed to the ground by a cow on Castle Howards estate

Response ID 309,244,045

Report number: 1038

Date of incident : 1/11/2024

Location: Wilburn, Yorkshire on a walk by the castle Howard estate ///harmlessly.fitter.cowboys

2 walkers and baby, no dog. Cows and calves in field.

Account: “My husband and I were walking with our baby in a sling on me. The trail went through a herd of cows so we tried to go around them and as we walked by, a cow starting getting agitated. It then charged us and rammed my husband to the ground. As he backed away on the floor, it backed up and charged him again. We backed up slowly. Another cow came charging towards us looking upset and we walked slowly backwards and it stopped. No injuries (other than a wet bum but no bruising) but still quite scary!”

“I think that farmers should be more responsible about placing their stock where there is a public right of way”

Response ID 308,779,200

Report number 1030

Date of incident 30/06/24

Location: On public footpath above Berry Pomeroy Village, (nr Totnes)

Report: “We were returning from Berry Pomeroy castle to Totnes and took the marked footpath through a field that led down to Berry Pomeroy Village. Although there was a sign to keep dogs on a lead (it was just us two) and cow pats; there were no visible signs of cattle.

We had walked over the ridge and about half way down the field towards the exit gate and spotted around 50 cows (mainly Friesians) standing at the base of the field in the shade. We then noticed a young cow get up by the gate and proceed to walk to the herd who then surrounded it before they all decided to walk up the field towards us. Having walked half way downhill and realising that they were all heading towards us, we realised we would not be able to get down to the gate and needed to turn back up the hill. We calmly walked back up the hill with the herd some distance away but they were moving so quickly that we realised there was no way out – due to the hedge and barbed wire fencing. Just before they got to us we spotted a small gap in the hedge and managed to scramble under the barbed wire and over some more before ending up in nettles that enabled us to get to the adjacent field. Feeling very frightened and stung we got home that way.

Fortunately it was only two of us but had a family or young children been doing that walk or anyone with a dog the whole situation would have resulted in a serious situation. I was terrified. My partner took a video of the incident with them surrounding us at the hedge where we had crawled to.

The Local Authority were really helpful and I also reported it to https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm regarding a public right of way, but did not hear from them.

We are really keen walkers and love visiting different places. We are close to Dartmoor and I now have a phobia of walking in open spaces when spotting cow pats or cows grazing. In the past I would think nothing of walking around cattle and feeling safe. I think that farmers should really be more responsible about placing their stock where there is a public right of way as these incidents are becoming increasingly frequent. I fully appreciate that farmers are entitled to earn a living but not at the detriment of the public’s safety. We are always fully compliant and respectful of the environment when we are walking and always follow the marked footpaths. These incidents do seem to fall on deaf ears so I would like there to be stricter legislation brought out in order that we can enjoy our environment safely. On an occasion in Dorset we had to take a busy main road back to our camp in the dark as the public footpath went through a field with a huge black bull in it.”