Another walker killed by cows…..is there a solution?

You cannot legislate for people's stupidity. No matter how many rules or guidelines are put in place, some people will always disregard them, or think they know better. Sometimes an accident is just that.

I lived in a farm cottage in Shropshire for a while many years ago with cows sometimes in the surrounding fields.

One day I heard what sounded like a stampede and looked out of the window to see my poor little cat charging down the field with a herd of cows behind her. She eventually managed to dive through the hedge into my garden. If only she had not run in a straight line and dived through the side hedge into the lane, she would have been safe much earlier.

I am not saying this couple did anything to deserve what happened, but sometimes people have no common sense. A friend was injured when she was walking along a lane and a stray cow which had escaped from a field charged at her and tossed her over a low wall, resulting in several broken bones. Two years later her adult son, while pushing his toddler in a buggy, decided to cut across a field of cows!!! Whatever was he thinking? The cows ran menacingly towards him and he managed to push the buggy into the hedge and punched the nearest cow on the nose before getting himself and the toddler to safety. It seems he had learnt nothing from his mum's experience.

Fleurpepper

GrannyGravy13

Don’t walk anywhere near livestock, just because a footpath goes through a farmers land doesn’t mean you have to use it.

I apologise if that sounds harsh and I have deepest sympathy for the deceased’s friends and family.

Animals especially in a herd can be unpredictable.

So, if a farmer does not want people to use a public footpath, all he has to do is to put cattle there year round, and no public.

Clever that!

Public footpaths are public and should be made safe. Cows with calves should not be grazed where public has access.

So a farmer shouldn't be allowed to graze his cattle in his own fields? Nonsense. It's common sense to avoid any field which has cattle grazing in it, even more so if they have calves. The problem here is not the farmer nor the cattle - but members of the public.

I knew someone whose father was trampled by his own cows on his own farm, so sad for the whole family. I don't know the exact circumstances.

Before I knew her and before I knew this could happen I had had 2 incidences myself of unexpectedly coming across cows on a public area one time and another time in a field. One minute the cows were over by the hedges a long distance away, next they were hurtling towards us and we got to the gate in time. Both times there was a small dog with us who were with us and showed no interest in the cows at all.

I was a townie, didn't have a clue. I do now.

Having read the story it's clear the couple did understand and there was a sign on the foot path asking dog walkers to clean up after their dogs so it was a regular route for dog walkers. Sometimes there were cows in the field and the couple avoided that route and sometimes there weren't. On this occasion they couldn't see any cows and were already well into the field when the cows came up behind them. We have a similar situation, lots of the footpaths go through fields that sometimes have cows in them but often do not. I have often walked on footpaths with absolutely no sign of cows only to find them blocking my way through further on. I know my local routes well and also know what is safe to do around cows and what is not but if I wanted to be 100% sure of not meeting any I'd have to stay on the roads. Please don't assume that this couple did anything to deserve this terrible accident, the only thing that might have helped them was to have let go of the dogs. It's not clear from the report whether they had done this or not.

NotSpaghetti

I wouldn't walk through a field of cows with calves. It was drummed into me as a child.

I don't seem to have seen this story though.

Me too. I give fields with cows or horses in them a wide berth.

Make all the worlds cows in to burgers :p (that was a joke)
but seriously don't walk on farmers fields (defanatly not with dogs) as it can spook the cows and the inevitable is bound to happen. My son has just bought a farm with his wife and kids and he has already had people startle his livestock (he has cows sheep and reindeer)

GrannyGravy13

Don’t walk anywhere near livestock, just because a footpath goes through a farmers land doesn’t mean you have to use it.

I apologise if that sounds harsh and I have deepest sympathy for the deceased’s friends and family.

Animals especially in a herd can be unpredictable.

So, if a farmer does not want people to use a public footpath, all he has to do is to put cattle there year round, and no public.

Clever that!

Public footpaths are public and should be made safe. Cows with calves should not be grazed where public has access.

I used to belong to a group of walkers who always walked through herds of cows because one was a man who’d worked with cows! I never felt comfortable especially not as I had my dog with me and my friend was afraid of cows. I used to be ready to let the dog off the lead and run.

Once when I was young I was walking through a field with mum and dad and our collie when cows suddenly appeared heading aggressively towards us. Dad, an experienced countryman, let the dog off the lead and we ran and scrambled over a 5 bar gate. The collie didn’t argue either. She landed on top of the gate and we hauled her over. Phew!

I’ve always remembered that and on my own would never go in a field with cows if I have the dog. I do think, however, if it’s a public footpath then the farmer should give a warning or better still fence the footpath off for safety.

I wouldn't walk through a field of cows with calves. It was drummed into me as a child.

I don't seem to have seen this story though.

Cows with calves are dangerous animals. If they feel, rightly or wrongly, that their calves are threatened then they will take steps to protect the calves.

What surprises me about this story is that the field of cows and calves in question was only minutes away from where the couple lived and yet they did not seem to have this country knowledge. Such a sad story.

Don’t walk anywhere near livestock, just because a footpath goes through a farmers land doesn’t mean you have to use it.

I apologise if that sounds harsh and I have deepest sympathy for the deceased’s friends and family.

Animals especially in a herd can be unpredictable.