Report No: 927
Date of Incident: 10/08/24
Location: Bottom of Cader Idris (just up from steps), Wales
2 people, no dog.
Account “We had walked up the steep steps on the Minfford Path route at the foot of Cader Idris, to a large open area with no cover. A cow with calves charged at me and my partner, we had driven two hours to go walking and turned back.”
Tom also adds:- “For public footpaths it should be illegal to have cows with calves roaming across them.”
Report number:890
Date of incident: 19/04/24
Site of incident: Avening Village, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8PB
My partner, our whippet, and I were walking through a field on the side of a hill. The path runs directly through the field and winds its way upwards toward the top boundary. Due to the steepness of the field and the long grass, we couldn’t see the top or bottom of the field, nor could we see the cows initially or how many there were. About four minutes into entering the field, while talking and interacting with our dog, a group of young looking cows appeared seemingly out of nowhere to our side, standing in a line and staring at us. I grew up around cattle and walking the family dogs around cattle, having lived on a house located on a local common where cattle graze for seven months of the year. Both my partner and I have been chased by the odd protective mother who’s only motive is to move walkers away from their calf and always thought we had a good idea of how to stay in control if needed. However, this situation immediately felt different. These were 8 young cows who had come over to us and were now standing in a line facing us. We paused for a moment, accustomed to walking through groups of cows, as is our dog, who rarely pay any attention to us and wanted to assume these guys were just being inquisitive. The cows began to curve round and block our path just ahead, so I suggested we turn around and head back along the path we came down. My partner was momentarily reluctant to retreat wanting to stand his ground, but then one of the cows put his head down and started coming pretty quickly towards us, so we, as calmly as possible started walking back along the path we had come, but still facing the cows. As we did so, the entire group of cows then put their heads down started running towards us. I spotted two bushes ahead just above me on the steep slope and aimed for them, hoping to put something between us and the cows. In my haste, I tripped on brambles and unfortunately ended up in the bush I sought for protection, landing on a bed of nettles and thorns and fearing a cow was behind me and might trample me, I tried quickly get up which then resulted in shredding my arms and legs on the brambles. Once I was up and around the bush, I saw a cow with its head down charging toward my partner. He stopped where he was and raised his hands and shouted ‘NO’ and ‘BACK’ alarming the cow, which then reared up and turned away from him at the last moment. Meanwhile, three cows started chasing our whippet who up until then had done well to get out of the way as he was agile and quick enough to evade them. Our dog, likely returning to protect us after what had just happened with my partner, was then chased back down the path to the entrance of the field which leads on to a busy road. Fearing what was going to happen next we frantically called our dog back to us and thankfully saw him turn around at pretty much the last moment and try to return to us. I called to my partner to make his way toward me, which he did slowly, continuing to shout instructions to the cows that were still attempting to run at him while he waited for our dog to get back to us.
Once we were all behind the row of bramble bushes we caught our breath while the cows stood and waited on the other side of the bushes. As the cows were blocking the way we entered the field, we decided to silently make our way up the field and along to the gate on the other side, constantly checking behind us to see if the cows were following, acutely aware that we weren’t in the clear yet. Once we were out of the field, we checked each other over, including our dog, fearing he may have received a stray kick. Thankfully, I was the only one injured with a pretty torn up and severely stung leg, arm and hand from where I fell.
We have walked through this field almost daily for the last 4 months and hadn’t seen any cows in the field before, that’s not to say they hadn’t been there before but due to the steepness, size, trees, hedges etc, you don’t ever have a clear view of the entire field. However, this was the first time I had noticed evidence of the cows as there were fresh cow pats scattered around, so for all I know they could have been introduced to the field that day. Other than a ‘livestock’ warning which would have given us a heads up, there wasn’t much else the farmer could do to prevent what happened. As regular walkers if we had seen this notice we would have put our dog on a lead (although our dog did nothing to provoke the cows) as we entered the field. Although I do doubt that this would have made any difference as our dog walks calmly by our heels anyway and having him on a lead could have prevented his escape at the beginning.
Report number: 883
Date of Incident: 5th June 2024
Location: High Tilberthwaite, Cumbria, England. Grid Ref SD 330824 501300. On right of way.
Dogs: None
Cattle: Group of cows and calves. Brown.
Account “Our group of four adults entered a field of cows near to a farm through a gate; we were intending to walk calmly across it following a public footpath. Cows with calves were lying down on and near the path so we made a detour to give them a wide berth. All the cows except one appeared to ignore us. This one cow, which was approximately 80 to 100 yds away, looked at us with great interest and started to walk briskly towards us. It then began to run, and charged aggressively towards one of our group, a man. It stopped about half a metre away from him and made aggressive roaring noises, darting at him repeatedly in a threatening way and pawing the ground. It was very close indeed. The man stood his ground, unsure what to do, and two others of us shouted and clapped loudly. The cow fortunately hesitated and withdrew. We quickly retraced our steps and left the field through the gate. Many of the cows had calves next to them, but this cow did not appear to have a calf.”
There were no warning signs.
Steve comments – “It should be illegal to put potentially dangerous animals in a field that contains a public footpath.”
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
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!”
Response ID 293,300,682
Report number 811
Date of the attack: 24/10/24
Where: Southgate, Nr Swansea
I was walking along Southgate Road, which is a public road with houses on one side, my dog was on a lead beside me. As I turned the bend a group of 5/6 cows were walking on the opposite side of the road towards me. I moved as close to the houses as possible. The leader cow charged me making loud noises and head butted me to the ground. It was standing over me and I was petrified it would trample me.
I crawled and staggered towards a house where builders were working. The men helped me. I was in a lot of pain and I attended hospital the next morning. I have injuries to my hands and ribs.
There is common land near the village where cattle and sheep graze but these cows regularly roam on to public paths and roads in Southgate village where the public are at risk of injury or death. The farmer doesn’t seem to care.
I have reported this attack to the local authority and the HSE.
292,890,420 Report Number 806
Date: 21/10/23
Where: Cheddar gorge , Black Rock walk , grid ref: ST482546 for car park at start of walk
Who was involved: 2 walkers , no dog, single black cow with a calf
We were walking along the footpath and a lone cow and calf were coming towards us. As we passed by, not making any noise and giving them a wide berth, the cow charged at my friend and started to head butt and attack him, pushing him into the hedge with force with repeated head butting.
Continue reading “Angela’s story – Aggressive cow attacks walkers in Cheddar Gorge”290,885,628 report number 786
Incident date 31/3/2020
Dipton (County Durham) DH9 9JY
I was out for a walk with my husband and 2 children (age 7 and 9) and we climbed over a stile into a field we normally walk through that is a public footpath. There was a herd of cows and calves in the field about 50 metres away. We stood still and discussed if we should walk through them.
Whilst we were stood there, one of the cows started pawing its hoof at the ground and the next moment was charging at us. The children and my husband were able to run and climb the stile, but as I ran, I fell to the floor. (We were unsure if this was due to impact from the cow or if I fell over a hole in the ground.)
I laid on the ground bracing myself waiting for the impact of the cow but thank goodness it didn’t come and I looked up to see the cows udders above me. My husband ran to me and then, thank goodness, the cow walked away. The children were screaming.
My foot was injured and swelled up immediately and I was unable to weight bear. I should have attended A&E that day but due to covid I was reluctant but I attended the following day and had an x-ray. Initially it was thought to be fractured but this was ruled out and I had a moon boot on my foot and was unable to drive for a few weeks after the incident. I had some physiotherapy sessions.
Comment: After the incident I was in shock and looked to see who I could report it to but my understanding was that there was no-one I could report to as I hadn’t had a serious injury or been taken straight to hospital. Every time I passed the site, I saw people and children walking in the same field as the cows and I just felt I had to do something. I managed to track down the farmer and told him about the incident. He was horrified and asked me to identify the cow so he could remove the cow from the herd. He also put a warning sign up at the entrance to the field to warn that cows with calves can be dangerous.
Response ID 292,302,524, report number 799
Date: 12/10/23
Where: Near Ashley Walk Car Park, New Forest, nearest village Godshill
While walking with my 2 Cocker Spaniels this morning near Snake road we were subjected to a sustained & totally unprovoked attack by a lone dark grey cow. We were about 25 yards from the animal & heading away from it when it suddenly charged at the dogs. It took them by surprise & almost caught one of them but the dog managed to roll away from under its hooves.
Then the cow turned its attention to me & charged. It was a truly terrifying moment as it thundered towards me, only pulling up when about a foot away. I slowly backed away as it followed wild-eyed & snorting . I moved more quickly backwards without running & eventually it lost interest & we made our escape.
My dogs were unharmed, I was badly scared.
The warning signs in the New Forest are all about not letting your dog worry livestock. Nothing about the danger to humans or dogs
This has been reported to New Forest National Park Authority
There has been a huge increase in the number of cattle in the New Forest in recent years. It has become very difficult to avoid contact with them. It would be great to have some cattle-free areas where people can walk without fear of attack.
report number 782
Response ID 290,748,076
21/09/23
Nayland, Suffolk/Essex border.
51.96661620544016, 0.8753255126471292
I was on my own crossing a field on a public footpath, no dog with me. I had walked this path before and usually there were friendly white cows in the field that paid me no attention. This time there was a new black cow (or bull – I didn’t stop to check,) that was looking at me in a menacing manner as I approached. The herd were blocking my path to the gate on the other side, so I headed around them to use a different exit to the field. Suddenly I heard a noise that made me look behind and saw a cow charging towards me. I just managed to jump over the fence to get out of the way in time.
I caught my finger jumping the barbed wire fence escaping from the charging animal.
20/09/2023
on public footpath near Durham
I was walking along a public footpath with Cooper,(a black lab I walk for a friend,) on a lead with a few friends. There was a mixed herd of cattle dotted around the public footpath, with a bull and some cows. One cow suddenly charged at Cooper out of the blue. I released the dogs lead and the cow instantly had him pinned to the ground, trying to gouge him. Luckily he wriggled free and ran after me. The cow didn’t pursue.
I was shaken by the incident, Cooper was bruised but no significant injuries.
I’m not really sure what could be done other than to remove the footpath or the cattle.
Killer cattle comment: If cattle have to be placed in fields with footpaths, fencing should be used to separate cattle and walkers.
report number 781
Response ID 290,726,193
Cattle Safety 