Incident No: 1319
Date: 14.08.26
Site: 51.6221725, -2.5476959 Near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire
1 cow, 1 walker, no dog
Description: “I was going to walk across the field, it was open with no warning signs. A cow was staring at me, I didn’t think much about it and just kept my distance. It took a few steps towards me so I gave it a wider berth. I then see it galloping towards me, so I run for the exit and make it out just in time. I’m still shook, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Incident No: 1320
Date: 28.9.26
Site: Fauls near Hodnet Shropshire
Group of cows, with heifers and bullocks, 2 walkers, no dog
Description: “We were walking in the footpath from Fauls Church across a farm field, on a public right of way. The cows charged across the field and blocked the foot path. Several scraping their hooves on the ground getting ready to charge.”
Incident No: 1321
Date: 17.10.26
Site: Footpath leaving Torbryan heading to Broadhempston, South Devon. ///plausible.convey.ponies
Group of bullocks, 2 walkers with dog
Description: “The dog was initially on a lead. As we crossed the field the bullocks became interested in the dog so we let her off the lead. The bullocks came towards us and the dog, we tried to shoo them off, but they ignored us. 2 of them lunged at the dog and chased the dog and my wife over the stile, then they stayed against the stile staring up at the dog and blocking my path. I was separated and had to backtrack out of the field and find an alternative route.”
Comment from Cattle Safety: Detailed above are 3 recent incidents of aggressive cattle. Each should be regarded as a near miss, and so should be treated seriously and reported to the Health and Safety Executive, the link can be found here Report an Incident – Cattle Safety Cattle are huge animals and their behaviour can be difficult to predict, they have the potential to cause awful injuries – thank goodness these reporters were not injured. (Readers note the different types of cattle and the presence or absence of dogs make little difference here.)
