near miss – Cattle Safety

3 reports of aggressive cattle

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.)

3 incidents – Different counties, different cattle, with and without dog

Each report below details a moment when walkers proceeding along public footpaths were confronted by cattle. Each must be regarded as a near miss as any close encounter can cause awful injuries.

Nicky dropped the lead when the bullocks charged and they ran after the dog allowing her to escape unharmed. Matt was chased by a group of heifers and luckily managed to escape (although it was a mucky and tricky exit.) Heidi’s dog ran off and the cows weren’t interested in chasing her dog – they rammed into Heidi, attacking her several times. These cattle were Belted Galloway – the breed that are used a lot by NT and the Wildlife Trust as they are supposed to be less aggressive!

So the recommendations by others to let your dog off its lead may or may not help you.

All types of cattle, even supposed “gentle” breeds can be aggressive.

Giving the cattle a wide berth and keeping dogs on short leads doesn’t appear to help in these occasions.

Even if you have no dog cattle can harass you. There are recommendations out there suggesting running will only make the cattle more interested in you. But faced by a herd of cows hurtling towards you would you wait and see?

We agree with Heidi, but go one step further – Cows should not be allowed on public footpaths.

Report number: 1309
Date: 22/9/26
Location: Banks of the river Wey on a widely used footpath (between Broadway and Radipole, Dorset)
Group of bullocks, single walker, dog on lead initially
Nicky’s Report: “Bullocks started charging across the field, others began to follow. I had to drop the lead and let the dog run or we would have been crushed. The dog escaped unharmed.”

Report number: 1314
Date: 04/09/26
Location: 51.643340,-2.518658 Rockhampton, Vale of Berkeley, Somerset
Group of heifers, 2 walkers, no dog
Matt’s Report: “Group of heifers chased us from a public footpath. We had to sprint and climb onto a pile of muck and into another field to escape.”

Report number: 1316
Date: 02/10/26
Location: Yarm, Stockton Upon Tees, North Yorkshire
Belted Galloway cows with bull, small group of walkers with dog on lead initially
Heidi’s Report: “We were walking wide of the cows when they started to surround me with my dog. Dog was distressed and slipped her leash. I was rammed from behind 3 times, my dog had run off at this point. Continued to harass me twice more but didn’t knock me over.” Heidi comments – “Cows that have attacked before not be allowed on public bridleways.”

Rachel and crew saved by horses

Report: 1310

Date: 04/09/26

Location: Mount Pleasant, Upton Cheyney, Nr Bristol

Cows with calves in the field

Small group of walkers with dog on lead

Rachel’s Report: “We walked past the cows ( around 30-50) on the footpath slowly, taking a wide birth around them. When we were about 10 metres past them they started following us, after a few minutes they started charging us. We let the dog off but he stayed with us. We were between the cows and a high fence with barbed wire. We kept walking, they charged and we turned round and shouted at them. They stopped so we kept walking then the cows charged again.”

“On the 3rd charge 2 horses ran over from the far side of the field and stood between us and the cows. The cows stopped charging. We kept walking to try and get to a hole in the fence. After about 20 metres the cows charged again. The horses galloped over again and stopped them. This continued until we left the field. About 10-13 mins of being chased by them.”

Rachel’s Comment: “Herds that big should not be on public rights of way. When cows in front of the charge stopped, the cows behind slammed into them, pushing them into us. If the horses had not come between us we would have been seriously injured.”

Family group with no dog cornered by cattle

Report: 1308

Date: 13/09/26

Location: Old Grange Farm, Longton, Lancs. ///aboard.cornfield.pays

Family group with children, no dog

Group of bullocks and cows – large beef cattle

Worried walker’s Report: “The footpath we were following was shown on OS to go through Old Grange farm near Longton Lancs, but it had been diverted round it, through a field.

On entering the field the cows began walking then running to us, splitting into 2 groups. I shouted and flapped to scare them away however they began running towards us on both fence lines, effectively blocking our path. Luckily we had stayed next to the farm fence and were able to go into the farmyard via a gate and rejoin where the footpath was marked on the OS map.”

Comment: “Beef cattle especially bullocks to kept away from footpaths. My 12 year is already petrified of even a field of completely disinterested cows, we will struggle to walk through them in future even taking precautions. This field joins the Ribble Way and so is a major footpath.”

Kate escapes over a barbed wire fence – 2nd attack in this area

Report: 1307

Date: 13/09/26

Location: High Stool Farm, Flagg, Derbyshire

Single walker with dog on a lead

Group of beef cattle, bullocks and calves

Kate’s report: “I was walking along a public foot path through a field with a stile at either end during a circular route. A bullock started charging and stamping feet, I threw my dog over a drystone wall into a gap between the wall and a barbed wire fence. I had fallen on the ground as I was trying to escape and the bullock kept coming at us so had to go over the barbed wire fence causing injury to both myself and my dog.”

Comment: “Paths to be diverted away from danger.”

Cattle Safety comments: there was a serious attack in this vicinity last year – see our post Derbyshire cow attack knocks man unconscious – Cattle Safety

Miley and his wife have to wade across a stream to escape cattle.

Incident number 1305
Date: 30.08.26
Site: Public footpath alongside of Egglestone Abbey near Barnard Castle. County Durham.
Bull with cows and calves (Comment: very large brown cattle with small horns.)
2 walkers with dog on a lead.

Miley’s Report: “We were walking from woods towards grasslands alongside Egglestone Abbey. This was the only route back to the gate onto the road where we started. We had already passed in one direction with no sign of cattle. On route back across the grassland there was a large group of brown cattle grazing near the stream; they were blocking access to the footbridge our path went over. Myself, wife and our dog on a lead walked around the outside of the cattle. The cattle moved to surround us on either side, making loud noises and moving towards us. I picked our dog up and started walking quickly to make an escape, the cattle followed and, as our access to the footbridge was still blocked by cows and calves, we had to cross the stream to escape. My wife was petrified. This was a very scary experience. On exiting the gate onto Abbey Lane we noticed a very small sign on the gate saying ‘Livestock present’. I would urge larger signs be installed to warn walkers whilst young calves, cows and bulls are present. We would not have entered this public footpath if we knew they were there. A very dangerous ordeal that could have ended in serious injury, I consider ourselves very lucky.”

Cattle Safety comment:

So glad you’re OK! Yes we also believe you are fortunate to not have been injured in that situation. We hope you inform HSE about this Report an Incident – Cattle Safety contact us on cows.safety.group@gmail.com. We noticed a report of cows blocking the way on the OS map, unsure if that was you or another poor walker.

Cows chase walkers AGAIN on Sussex Ouse Valley way

Incident number 1303
Date: 31.5.26
Site: Between Lewes and Hamsey on the river footpath BN7
I dog, on a lead, 2 walkers

Description: “Chased by cows on footpath, not for the first time here but very scary. Our dog froze in panic making getting away from cows near impossible.
We reported it to the council who have replied saying they’ll be there for months, really uninterested in them chasing us – don’t know who else to tell but it’s very scary and it’s our daily walk so feel very cross!”
Comment: “I would LOVE the cows to be behind a fence and not on the footpath!! How do we do that?”

Cattle Safety comment: This report highlights the problems with reporting issues on walking paths to councils. The person receiving the report is not trained to recognise a Health and Safety “near miss” and so ignores this report. Unfortunately these cows will continue to pester and chase people if nothing is done and then a serious accident could occur. Yes – walkers are instructed to report incidents to the footpath officer on a council – but, in our experience, doing that rarely achieves anything. Informing the Health and Safety Executive may achieve something as these people are trained in H&S.

Near miss in the Itchen Valley

Incident number 1300
Date: 23.08.26
Site: Brown trail – Itchen Valley, Nr Southampton ///owner.press.duck
Single walker, no dog

Walkers report: The cows were grazing. I walked through the field and they all looked up at me. One started to walk over, about 10/15 meters away then started to sprint at me. Other cows started to try and corner me off. Had to run out of field and was chased, no calves were present. Cows then decided to go around to another gate to try and chase me again. I got out of the field safely.

Family escape from aggressive cattle over barbed wire fence

Report: 1296

Date: 18/07/26

Location: 52.2403290, -1.3127479 Just looked up on map and copied from Google maps. It was on a footpath going towards Napton on the Hill, Warwickshire.

Kirsty’s Report: “We were walking across a field with cows in the far distant corner, a long way from where we were and we noticed they looked agitated. Then they suddenly all started running full speed towards us. We’ve never seen cows behave like that before. We were in danger and had our 12 year old daughter with us so had to run to nearest fence which was unfortunately barbed wire. We had no choice but to climb over the barbed wire fence to escape to safety. After we escaped we saw the cows closer and they were scraping at the ground looking very aggressive and agitated. We didn’t have a dog with us and never got anywhere near them, didn’t see any calves either so don’t understand why they reacted like that. It was terrifying. Had the cows been closer when stampede started we would not have made it out uninjured especially with the barbed wire fence.”

Kirsty added “I didn’t know how to report these incidents until I read BBC Countryfile article with this website. We need more awareness of the dangers and how to report incidents. Our family haven’t been for a walk since and it was almost a month ago. It really frightened us. We had a stressful situation finding a way out and couldn’t find a way around the cows so had a very long walk back the way we came in hot weather having run out of water too. I don’t think barbed wire fences are appropriate in fields with cows and footpaths, that made our escape to safety so much more hazardous and difficult to escape without injury.”

Cattle Safety comments:

Here is a link to our webpage giving details of who to contact after an attack Report an Incident – Cattle Safety

Link to the Countryfile article mentioned above Fear not! Here’s how to stay safe while walking near cows | Countryfile.com – please note we have many issues with this article!

Devon or Staffs; dog or no dog; near misses with cows happen – they need fencing off

Report: 1291

Date: 3/8/26

Location: Cullompton, highbanks, Devon. W3W ///relocated.waters.request

2 walkers, no dog

Single cow, ? Charolais

Report: “We were walking along the opposite side of the field next to the bushes, the cows were down by the river. They had moved around a bit, but they weren’t near us and we weren’t near them, a couple were still coming out of the river, a couple were grazing they were all near each other. There were no signs of aggression from any of them that we saw. We didn’t see the cow running at us before it was right next to us it had b-lined straight for us from across the field, we’re not sure what set it off. In fight or flight we jumped into a thorn bush as we had no time to move and it stood and stared directly at us for 5 minutes before walking back to join the herd and continue to graze. A couple of the cows in that group had little scuffles after that but it took 20 minutes till we felt comfortable enough to leave the bush and they were far away enough again. It’s a very public area with plenty of footfall generally, but there were only a few people out as it was between 9-10pm and no one was in the area at the time it happened.”

“I’m unsure on how to feel as it is a very public area. I haven’t had any issues before, they’ve been curious but I’ve never had an experience like that. I know a lot of kids and dog walkers walk through highbanks. I also know you’re meant to act bigger to scare them off but we had no time to think before it was next to us and fight or flight kicked in.”

Report 1294

Date 6/8/26

Location: Public Footpath between Bilstone and Congerstone in Staffordshire

2 walkers 1 dog on a lead

Group of cattle (?Holstein) black and white

Elizabeth’s Report: “We were walking with a Jack Russell on a lead and after entering the field the cows started walking then running towards us we tried to backtrack to leave the field but couldn’t make it in time. We jumped over a small barbed wire fence and were trapped between the cows and a canal. My husband came to rescue my son and I by yelling and swinging a cane. The cows only cleared off for long enough for us to run towards the gate to escape but they were close on our heels.”

Boisterous cattle on the Cotswold Way stop walkers following the path.

Incident number: 1290
Date: 2/8/26
Site: On the Cotswold Way public footpath at Sands Farm (between Dyrham and Pennsylvania/ (Cold Ashton) just before where the Cotswold Way crosses Gorse Lane. The very approximate coordinates are 51.468770,-2.378849.
Type of cow: Boisterous group of young cattle.
2 walkers, no dog.

Report: “At approximately 12:00 noon, Sunday 2nd August 2026, my mother and I were forced off the Cotswold way footpath due to being charged by a herd of young, boisterous cattle. We were following the Cotswold way sign posts, which took us into and signposted us across the field, we were definitely following the correct route. The field was shortly before the Gorse Lane crossing.

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.