Spoiled walks – Cattle Safety

Dodford footpath leading to Bournheath – walker cornered by a mixed herd

Incident number: 1266

Response ID: 329,840,622

Date of incident: 18.06.26

Location: Field adjacent to top of Yarnold Lane, Dodford leading across to Bournheath ( to right hand side as driving out of Dodford

Status: Lone walker with dogs on lead onPRoW

Sarah’s Story “The cattle approached (they were a mixed herd of Charolais, Hereford, friesian and possibly even a Guernsey) as we walked into the field and quickly blocked off the possibility of turning back.

The cattle were playful but kicked out and when I let the dogs of the lead and told them to run so I could use the leads as a whip to wave in the air to keep the bullocks back they cornered each of the dogs and I and we had to make our way through two fields blocked in both front and rear and on two occasions on all sides … I am a beef farmers daughter and have helped herd cattle for many years however I have never been cornered like this.

Sarah is understandably extremely anxious and shaken and adds “I wish to report this as had I not had experience with cattle I suspect at least one of us would have been injured – the cattle may appear friendly but with a dog it is a different story- two very friendly withdrawn guide dogs were not a threat and were walking nicely initially – they were petrified and clearly in danger – the bullocks were trying to toss them”

Trapped by cattle on weavers way near Halvergate

Incident number: 1264

Response ID: 329,834,345

Date of incident: 10.06.26

Location: On the Weavers Way footpath, between Stone Road, Halvergate and Berney Arms, shortly before the railway line.

Status: Lone walker with no dog on PRoW

RW’s story

“I was walking on the path across the marshes, following the Weavers Way path. A group of about 20 cows ran at me. I took cover between a kissing gate and a fence. Trapped for about 90 minutes. Some of the cows were aggressive. I phoned the police on 911; they were concerned but, due to the remoteness of the location, were unable to assist. Eventually, I left the gate and turned back to Halvergate. A few of the cows were aggressive but did not maintain their chase.”

They add “Cattle should be separated from dedicated footpaths such as the Weavers Way, ie by fencing or similar.”

Bennar near Barmouth – A very near miss…….

Incident number: 1263

Response ID: 329,826,913

Date of incident: 14.06.26

Location: Welsh Coastal Path. Farm at Bennar, north of Barmouth.

(What3Words: ///scrubbing.amused.cubed)

Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PRoW

Martin’s story

“I was walking the Wales Coastal Path. I was on a public footpath near Bennar, heading towards Barmouth, when I encountered an enormous field with a herd of about 10 cows. The cows were calmly lying on the ground in the middle of the field, all together. I did not think they would be a problem since there was a lot free space to walk around them. As I usually would, I started walking slowly as close to the stone fence as I could, at a steady pace, heading for the opposite gate; the usual common sense and walking etuiquette. There wasn’t anything alarming about the herd at that stage, and the cows clearly saw me coming from the distance. However, as I was just about to pass them, and this was still at good 40-50 meters away from the herd, they all suddendly got up and started running. At first, they ran away from me. I stopped for a minute, giving the herd space and calculating my next movements, which were limited because the field was surrounded by barbed wire. However, as soon as I made another step, the herd came charging at me from a distance, at full speed. They got within 5-10 meters of me and 2 of the cows started bucking into the air, and directing their hooves at me, attempting to kick me. I had no other choice but to throw myself over the barbed wire, suffering some cuts on my arm. The only other alternative was to be trampled to death. Once over the fence, shaking and full of adrenaline, I started treading the bogs on the other side, falling knee-deep into concealed mud, and nearly breaking my ankles several times over a distance of about 1/8th of a mile. Most worringly, the cows wouldn’t let go. They followed me along the fence, watching my every step, bucking and stomping their ground. I am an experienced walker, and a male in my late 30s. I run and exercise regularly. I believe my fitness level was the only thing that saved my life that day. It also made me very anxious about my personal safety on the remainder of the path, and cast a serious doubt on whether I would be able to relax and enjoy my walks going forwards. I really hope no one else attempted to pass that field that day, and if anyone did – that they were safe.”

Martin adds

“I believe every field with cattle on a public right of way should have a contact number at the gate to the farm who owns the animals so that if they become aggresive you could call the farmer to report the incident and ask for help.”

Are cows becoming more aggressive?

Incident number: 1261

Response ID: 329,818,362

Date of incident: 15.06.26

Location: Fields near Tackley in Oxfordshire heading towards the canal path

Status: Group of walkers (3-5) with no dogs on PROW

Liz’s story

“We entered a field with about 50 cows (A group of heifers) at the far end of the field. They rushed over to us and when we tried to walk away along a fence , they tried a pincer movement to force us against a barbed wire fence. Whichever way we went they aggressively ran towards us.

We are all experienced walkers. No one ran. In the end we walked across flapping our arms and shouting and they formed a semicircle around us following us all the way.

We were badly shaken but unhurt”

Liz adds “In the last few years we have noticed more and more aggressive cows . I believe this is a breed problem. Friesians never bothered walkers in the past”

Aggressive or curious cattle? Either pose a risk to walkers.

3 recent reports follow, 2 with dogs, 1 without. All the walkers felt worried enough by the cattle’s behaviour and exited the field across potentially dangerous routes. People may argue some of the cows were “just” curious or playful rather than aggressive. If a 1/2 ton of animal is “curious” and comes charging towards you or pins you to a gate, that is dangerous. Cattle pose a risk to walkers. So what is the solution?

Signs indicating dangerous cattle in the field will not happen as the law states no dangerous animals should be kept on land with public access. Banning dogs across fields of cattle clearly will not solve the problem, half of our reports are from people with no dog. Educating people to “respect the cows” will not help, you can respect a charging cow as much as you like, but it won’t make you safe. Giving cattle a wide berth, not getting between a calf and mother, having a calm dog on a short lead – all good ideas but we have reports from those who follow all the above and yet were attacked. The solution is fencing off cattle from walkers. Read the following reports and decide what you would do in that situation.

Cows and walkers – no dogs, but walks spoiled

We published a post recently about being careful while planning new walking routes for fear of meeting cattle Ensuring Safety on a Walking Holiday: Cattle Management – Cattle Safety . This fear is not unusual, and is well founded, we have hundreds of reports where walkers have been frightened or hurt. Below are three recent reports where walkers have been scared or threatened by cattle. These walkers were not injured, but unfortunately we have many reports where people have been badly hurt. How a walker behaves does not seem to predict a particular outcome, as cattle seem to be unpredictable to us lesser mortals (there are those who say watch the head, look at the feet, avoid eye contact etc…. and they profess to be able to understand cattle behaviour – we are not cattle experts and should not be expected to be.) So in Cattle Safety eyes – all cows are a concern and an encounter with them is potentially dangerous.

Cattle block footpath

Report number: 1241 Date: 28/2/26
Location: Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, Footpath known locally as The Ridge. (Affords spectacular views across countryside with Malvern hills in the distance.) What3words: Report.foil.figure

Report: “On seeing us, a herd of about 10 cows started running towards us, fortunately we were close to a gate and managed to escape through it. They surrounded the gate. We waited for about 20 minutes then abandoned the walk. This is the second time this has happened [2025] in almost the same part of the footpath. We used to walk it regularly but are now too afraid to go there.”

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.”

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”

Trampling Incident involving serious injuries In Dorset. (Near Morden)

Incident number: 1215

Response ID: 318,377,455

Date of incident: 6.11.25

Location: Near Morden, Dorset, (WTW ref is chuckling.pounces.pianists)

Status: Between 3 to 5 people with dogs on lead on PROW

Michael’s story

“We were on the public bridleway that crosses the field onto Wareham heath. Cattle and calves were about 50 meters away and peaceful. Two dogs with us were quiet and on leads. It is a path we have walked many times. Suddenly a single cow left the group and began trotting towards us. We hurried to reach a gate onto the heath but the cow started galloping and slammed straight into me, knocking me down and partly trampling my back and legs. The others in my group managed to avoid being attacked.”

Michael went to A and E. He has severe ligament damage to leg, severe bruising to muscles in leg, back and shoulder. Fortunately the other members and the dogs were not harmed.

Michael adds

“The farmer contacted me next day and was very apologetic, also said he was “surprised” by the incident. He said he immediately moved all the cattle from the field and confined the offending cow inside a barn, promising that it would never be put in a field with a footpath again. (He was able to identify which animal did it, as he only had two of the Hereford crosses among a field containing mainly mixed breed beef cattle.) In an ideal world all cattle should be separated from humans and dogs by means of electric fencing on public rights of way, but I recognise the practical limitations of making this a 100% rule.”