Stories – Page 19 – Cattle Safety

Daniel’s story: Unprovoked attack, the outcome could have been much worse.

Report number: 841

Date of incident: 30/4/24

Site of incident: One of the fields that sits on Draycott Old Road in Draycott in the Moors, Staffordshire.

1 Person, no dog.

I was out for a walk in my local area as I do every evening. I always use the public footpaths, taking me through a number of fields, one of which can tend to have cattle in it. I have never had any problems in the past, however, last night was different.

After having gone over a stile and walked 5-10 meters from it, I realised there was a cow behind me to my left that was initially hidden by the hedge. This cow immediately moved towards me and got between myself and the stile, so I had nowhere to go.

The cow charged at me, head butting me to the ground before rising up on its hind legs. Luckily I was able to roll out of the way before the cow hit the ground and make for the stile. The cow chased me, so instead of using the stile I had to throw myself head first over an almost 5 foot high gate (this was to the side of the stile), landing flat on my back on hard mud that had been dried out by the sun.

I am without serious injury, just a stiff back, sore chest from the head-butt and slightly sprained wrist. My back and wrist injuries were as a result of front flipping head first over the gate. There was no provocation on my part and I did not have a dog with me—the cow was immediately aggressive and came out of nowhere.

Daniel has a question –

I am unsure what is the best thing to do after this attack. I am concerned that if I were smaller, slower or weaker than myself I would’ve been seriously hurt, and I would like to do whatever I can to stop that from happening in this particular field.

Killer Cows comment –

We agree, this situation could have resulted in far worse injuries if someone was not as quick to escape that field. We strongly advise everyone who has had a near miss or minor injury to report the incident to the Health and Safety Executive, they handle deaths and serious injuries and also those occasions where a potentially more lethal outcome could have occurred – and we know (unfortunately) that any attack by a cow is potentially extremely dangerous. https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm

On the Bures Dragon hiking loop. Jennifer and her friend remained calm

Incident number: 838

Response ID: 301,224,274

Date: 13.04.24

Location: Bures, Suffolk. Between Smallbridge and Bures Road on the St Stephen’s Chapel, Bures Dragon hiking loop.

Jennifer said that two of them had been walking in the above location with no dog. In her words.

“Cows came quickly over from the other side of the field, surrounded us coming very close and were clearly agitated – they started to paw the ground. At this point we calmly turned around and walked to the gate we had entered by. (had we not been able to do this I believe we would have been injured.) We ‘done’ all the right things – no sudden noise or movements and we stayed next to the fence line whilst walking.”

Jennifer wants “Clear signs ‘ not to enter’ or where possible, an alternative route provided by farmer so no one gets hurt or scared ( including the animals)”

Alison’s horrific incident that still affects her deeply

Incident number: 835

Response ID: 300,776,430

Date: 11/08/2015

Location: Hartsop near Patterdale in the Lake District

In her own words ……..

“It was the first day or our holiday. My husband had gone cycling. My brother and I were walking through a field with cows in the distance, I put the dog on the lead because I didn’t want him to chase them. (he didn’t usually but I was being cautious.) A few minutes later I noticed that the cows had come closer and the next thing I knew I was being headbutted in my chest and trampled. I just remember thinking that this couldn’t really be happening and that it really hurt!. I managed to stagger up but they butted me again. I have no idea if it was one to two who were attacking me.

I covered by face and my brother managed to grab me and pull me to safety. It was probably all over in a few minutes but felt like forever. At no point did I think I wasn’t going to make it, survival instinct kicked in. We had no mobile reception so my brother left me to find a phone. Other people arrived and tried to help. I was really struggling to breathe but was pretty numb and shocked.

The air ambulance took me to Preston where I was diagnosed with 2 collapsed lungs, multiple broken ribs, a big laceration on my right knee which required operating on, a broken hand which required an operation and pins, a broken collar bone and horrendous bruises all over my body and my face in particular. I was in hospital for 10 days with 2 operations on my knee and hand. I also received physio for weeks after and psychological help because I was diagnosed with PST and even now, just a photo of a cow makes my stomach churn.”

Fast forward to today and Alison is understandably still very cautious.

She says several things “I would like better signage but sometimes signs say that there are cows with calves in fields but they don’t offer an alternative route. My friend and I take so many “cow avoidance routes” probably climbing fences we shouldn’t just to get away from them. We had another experience recently where we had no way out and had to clamber through streams and woodlands to get out of harm’s way. This time the cows were so inquisitive but who knew what was likely to happen. I would like better advice on what to do, some say wave your arms, some say don’t, keep dog on lead or not, I sometimes think farmers put cows in fields to stop you walking through!!”

A charge that could have been very nasty

Incident number: 831

Response ID: 300,626,483

Date: 30/03/24

Location: Llanfwrog, Anglesey. Here is a precise what3words address branch.starlight.hillsides

Gary and his wife were walking on a public right of way in the location above with their small dog on a lead when they came upon a single cow with a farmer.

In his words “The cow had given birth overnight and the farmer had the calf on his quad bike and was using it to get the cow to follow him up the road. We had nowhere to go and it saw our dog and charged her taking me and my wife out in the process. A few cuts and bruises but it could have been a lot worse.”

They were understandably very scared and didn’t know who to inform although we have contacted them and suggested they contact the Health and Safety executive.

Guy’s frightening story on the Tyne and Wear Heritage Trail

Incident number: 829

Response ID: 300,231,660

Date: 21.03.24

Location: High Spen, Tyne and Wear (grid ref: NZ 13484 60569)

Guy was walking with on a circular country walk with a friend and his dog. Part of the route included the Tyne and Wear Heritage Trail, a major rambling route clearly marked on the OS App and signage. “We followed the path and the dog was on a lead at all times. While descending towards a small stream (the Coal Burn see map reference), we were mobbed by a herd of around thirty cows and at least one bull at grid location NZ 13484 60569 (Strothers Farm, High Spen). Some of the cows were visible across the field when we entered, but others and the bull were in another field we couldn’t see, through an opened gate. One cow pushed me over a barbed wire fence resulting in a lot of bruising (I will go to A&E if I have further symptoms). We called the farmer for help, who said they were not her cows but promised to contact their owner. Apparently the cows had recently chased other walkers. However nobody came to our aid and when we spoke to the farmer later on she had not been able to contact the owner of the herd. I understand the incident was on her land. We were hemmed in by the animals, some less than a meter away, for around an hour (trapped around 10:30, first call for help, after I was butted, at 10:38, police officers arrived at 11:27). Eventually we had to call the police and four officers eventually arrived and distracted the herd in order to rescue us. Although we were extremely grateful for their help and professionalism, this was not a good use of their time. It was also a very frightening incident. I’ve never known anything like it, after many years of enjoying the countryside. We were both terrified. To my mind, this represents dangerous, reckless farming. A document from the Ramblers Association appears to summarise the law https://www.ramblers.org.uk/what-we-care-about/rights-way-and-cattle. None of the recommended health and safety guidelines for farmers listed there appear to have been followed”

Stopped walking on a public path due to cattle encounter

Incident number: 826

Response ID:

Date: 30.06.23

Location: Public walk behind Otter (before reaching Spriddlestone ) in Brixton, Plymouth, Devon

May’s Story: I was walking on my own without a dog when I saw a group of cows on the public walk that goes across the field, so I tried to walk around them. Good luck I wasn’t too close because suddenly two red cows started running towards me. I ran back to the gate as fast as I could and the cows crashed hard into the fence. It was very hurtful and I’m traumatized.

May says “I don’t go back to that route no more. It’s scared me senseless even just seeing a sheep nowadays. The farmer shouldn’t have cows and calves on public walk at the same time.”

A run that had a scary end

Incident number: 825

Response ID: 296,105,674

Date: 20.12.23

Location: Between Lewes and Kingston, East Sussex

Rachael’s story:

I was running on my own without a dog on a public right of way. I saw some bullocks on the hill. They appeared very restless and were locking horns and sparring. Despite giving them a very wide berth, a large horned bullock ran at me, stopped two feet in front of me, snorting and pawing the ground. It was terrifying. I honestly think I’d have been attacked if I hadn’t looked away and very slowly walked whilst making soothing noises. I heard it following me, still angry and snorting but eventually it got bored and turned back. I was very scared and have reported this incident to the local authority.

Spoiled walk in Kielder Forest

Report number 819

Date of incident 15/11/23

Site of incident

55°10.536’N, 2°24.589’W What3words ///scrambles.wiring.urgent

Kielder Forest, Northumberland

No dogs, 2 people

The cows were feeding close to the entrance of the field as we approached the gate. The young cows were spooked by us as we approached and the mother cow was then standing her ground close to the entrance. We did not feel confident to enter the field with her blocking our way.

We were too scared to enter the field and had to reroute our walk.

Killer Cows comment:

“Some farmers elect to place cattle to deter walkers from crossing their land, others are ignorant of HSE advice. We don’t know whether this farmer was deliberately or unknowingly contravening HSE guidance.”

“HSE state in their guidance that cows with calves should not be sited in fields with public footpaths. Also cattle should not be fed close to the footpaths.”

Alison’s spoiled and extended walk

Report number: 818

Date of incident: 11/9/2023

Site of incident: near Tintagel, Cornwall

We were following a footpath through farmland and went over a stile and the next footpath was directly ahead following the hedge line. Unfortunately, right at the other end of the field, directly in front of the stile was the herd of cows.

So as not to spook them by walking directly towards them, we tried to go around. Unfortunately, these cows seemed territorial and were undecided as to whether they were going to allow us through or not.

They started coming towards us which did not seem like curiosity or to see if we had food. There was no where to go and my 14 year old was really scared. I tried talking calmly to them – but it made no difference. They looked like they were on the verge of charging.

In the end I made myself as big as possible with my arm out wide and clapped shouting “Back”. This caught them off guard and we managed to squeeze around them and over the stile. They quickly pursued us to the stile but luckily we were safely over. We had to re-route for the way home.

We weren’t injured, just badly frightened.

“The Bucking Bullock of Bungay”

Report number 815

Date of incident 31/8/2023

Site of incident: On Bungay Common next to the River Waveney on the edge of Bungay town, Suffolk

I had been for a swim in the River Waveney, I went through the gate that is at the end of the footbridge, onto the common, there was a herd of cows about 200m away. I didn’t have a dog.

I started to walk across the field towards the gate on the other side keeping an eye the cows all the time. One spotted me and started briskly walking towards me then bucked twice and started running towards me. I ran as fast as I could to the gate. When I got there the bullock (I think) stopped about 50m away and lost interest in me. Shocking and scary!

“There should be signs put up! This is not a remote area. I found the walk and wild swim in a guide book and the common is on the edge of a busy town so I imagine plenty of people use the common. ‘The Bucking Bullock of Bungay’ should be common knowledge by now!”

Trampled

Response ID 294,721,170

Report number 820

When: 24/11/23

Where: Meadow Lane, Yoxall, Burton on Trent (52.7570756, -1.7784786)

My mum and I were walking on a public footpath with dogs on leads. There was a group of cows with calves on the other side of a large field, they were a way off and we weren’t concerned as our dogs are very well trained, they are used to cattle and ignore them. The cows charged towards us, we instructed our dogs to sit back from us – which they did. One cow got to my mum, pushed her over to the ground with its head and began trampling her. I then did my best to fight it off but it kept throwing me off with its horns so it could continue trampling.

Wayne’s run to escape

Response ID 293,950,292

Report Number 817

When: 12/11/23

Where: Middleton in Teesdale

https://explore.osmaps.com/pin?lat=54.62293999898196&lon=-2.0963386011188163&zoom=16

There was a group of cows with calves in the field, at the far end.

I had my dog on a lead as we walked through the field.

I was on a public footpath, walking through the field and a group of possibly 20 cows charged across the field towards us. They attacked my dog initially, throwing him into the air and then turned on me throwing me to the ground. They then tried to trample on both of us while we were on the ground.

I was able to get up and I ran, they chased us for 1/4 of a mile.

My dog is sore and possibly bruised.

I have reported this to the Health and Safety Executive, they are investigating.