Cows killed another poor dog walker

[Pippetypoppity]

I’ve just seen on the BBC news that a lady has been killed in a field by cows. She was walking her chihuahua. This is absolutely tragic. She possibly ran with dog and was chased. That would be my guess as the same happened to me on our farm when I was very young. Your instinct is to save your dog and run. I remember I had a sheep dog puppy in my arms and I’d gone into the field to play. I was about 6 I think. The cows noticed the puppy from quite a distance away and the whole herd started moving in. Luckily I was close enough to the gate to get out, but it was terrifying. I remember my father on the yard yelling ‘Drop the puppy’ at the top of his lungs. I didn’t but I’d have been a gonner if I was another 50 yards in. I just want to tell everyone what my father said to me that day. It’s stuck in my mind ever since and it’s important anyone who dog walks in the country knows it too

1. If you see cows with calves leave the field by the nearest exit immediately. Cows often charge to protect their young
2. If you see cows without calves and they start moving quickly towards you they are being inquisitive. If you have a dog with you the cows will want to know if it is a threat. They see dogs instinctively as predators. If you cannot get to a gate and they are approaching- startle them by shouting jumping, waving your arms and making yourself appear as loud, big and threatening as possible. This will frighten them and make them stop or bypass you.
3. If they persevere it will be because they want to force your dog out of the field. Let the dog go! This is critical. Your dog can run faster than cows and much much faster than you. The cows will then focus on the dog and you can get away.
4. Never ever pick up the dog if cows are refusing to back off. This is the hardest thing in the world to do as all your instincts will compel you to try and protect it. It stands a better chance running and dodging them however than it does in your arms. You will then avoid becoming a target yourself and being trampled.
5. When cows move quickly in a large group the ones at the front get pushed by the ones at the back even if they themselves try to slow down. They will not be trying to mow you down but the sheer force from behind might mean they do. For this reason if cows approach in a group and your initial efforts to threaten and scare them failed, make that momentum go in a different direction ie after your dog.

I am so so dreadfully sorry to hear that this has happened again. The lady in question was inevitably a devoted extremely responsible and loving pet owner. She must have been to have been giving her chihuahua a country walk. I expect for this very reason she picked her dog up when she saw the cows getting near. Poor poor lady.

Do you understand the difference between dairy cows and cows raised for meat? Clearly not.

I'm as urban as it gets so maybe I'm missing something, but who in their right mind walks into a a field full of cows with a barkjng dog. What outcome do they expect?

@crackofdoom you know damn well what I meant! Go on I dare you to try and go a week without using or earring anything that was grown or produced or came from a farm! Go on!

I remember when I was scared to walk through a field of cows and my friends made fun of me.

Exactly where are they supposed to put them. What a ridiculous statement.

But you and others have made it very clear that you think "townies" (which seems to mean "anyone who isn't a farmer", even though many other people also live rurally) shouldn't really be walking in the countryside at all. How are they to learn about the rules of the countryside if they are never permitted to do anything but drive through it on the motorway?

Same here, I've often felt anxious about walking through a field with cows in, and had friends saying I'm being silly. It's not silly, it's sensible.

The footpath was there before the farm. Don't buy a farm with public footpaths on it if you don't like them.

They're there as downlands management, not as part of a farmer's field.

The livestock get attacked by dogs every bloody year, just as they do on Riddlesdown.

And of course, there is always the option to stay on the other side of the track/road + slope, rather than stroll through the middle of them.

Farmland is owned and the primary focus should be farming not the public. Public rights of way are a privilege and the countryside code exists for the purpose of keeping people safe. What you are suggesting is nonsense. We have footpaths running through the majority of the fields of our farm. As a mixed beef and sheep farm it is impossible not to graze these fields with cattle. We have to stock the fields of a certain acreage with cattle in order to keep the larger fields for first and second cut silage and hay. After that we then stock the larger fields for the after grass. It is far more complicated than just not putting livestock in fields with PRoW. Of course we are responsible and try to minimise the risks such as grazing cattle without calves / not putting the bull in certain fields but sometimes it just doesn’t work.
I recently had a meeting with our district rights of way officer after numerous instances of people blatantly off the footpath and ending up on private land. One woman and her children walked through a field of cows with their calves and the bull, a runner ran the perimeter of a private field and tried to open a chained gate, my dog was bitten by an off lead dog. All of these examples occurred on private land. Just imagine the consequences and criminal charges if someone was caught trespassing in your garden.
It is very sad that a lady has died but the responsibility is not entirely the farmers. I have been in situations with my own livestock where I have felt uncomfortable and unsafe but I take the risk as it’s my job. There’s a reason why farming is the most dangerous occupation in the UK.

This thread perhaps is crazy.

Not all posters, but some, wow.

A ram/tup. With his girls. Exceptionally dangerous.

Highland cattle, nope, you cannot ride them, lucky to get close.

Horses, kick and could kill.

Deer, a stampede, yup walk your dog if you want.

Cattle, been covered.

Goats see sheep.

Pigs. Best way to hide a body.

Dogs. Well news will tell you about those.

Donkeys. Shit they can bite.

Worst attack I have had, genuinely, a territorial pheasant, male.

Swans, break your neck.

Geese, not pleasant.

Spiders, bite.

The majority of people are very friendly and wonderful and respectful to the countryside.

The small pet who are not, push tolerance levels to a break point.

No you cannot feed the laminitis horses.
Ride the highland cows
Train your dog not to chase sheep with pregnant yews.
I cannot provide umbrella sun shades for live stock.
It could be devastating when you do not shut a gate.

This brings back terrible memories, when I was 12 on my first school camping trip. We went to Stedham in South Down, In the next the field where we were camping was a field full of bullocks, myself and 3 friends were chased by them and only just got across to safety in time. I cant even remember the teacher being around. I am 59 though so this was a long time ago.

Question from a city dweller. People saying never walk through a field with any livestock- really?

I spent childhood holidays in the Lakes and you can't take 5 paces without passing a sheep. Surely livestock other than cows are fine to walk past?

I have heeded all this advice about cows though - some of these stories are terrifying. I have always wondered about horses too - how dangerous are they in fact?

I have lived in the city centre of a pretty big north west city my entire life. I still live here. I'm not from the countryside. But I had to learn about it to be able to enjoy it safely.

You learn about it by doing just that, educate yourself before going, learn whats safe and whats not, read up on it, ask questions, try and remember whats acceptable, learn the country code, leave no trace etc. Walk planned safe routes.

I knew cattle were dangerous from the age of 5, I knew adders were in the long grass by 6, I knew pigs would bite my fingers off before I'd even said hello if they were in the mood by the age of 7. Because it was the 90s and we were still taught this shit then.

Join the Ramblers! Join the young Ramblers! (like I did as an adult) - but you dont just go walking through random fields full of livestock with your dog ffs.

I think most people are saying 'don't let your dog off its lead in a field full of livestock!'

Some people are so pig-ignorant and thick that they think that their precious wee puppy won't cause any harm. WRONG. The pregnant sheep and cows can lose their babies, or cows can charge at people and kill them!

Not rocket science. Keep your dog on its lead FFS!

!

Round here, you're likely to get a bollocking if you stray from the public footpaths, even when they go through fields with cattle and calves in. And a diversion isn't always an easy matter when fields without a public right of way are enclosed by wire fencing topped with barbed wire.

@ItsLovelyWeatherForDucks of course - dogs and livestock don't mix. I was asking about the general comments saying people (without dogs) shouldn't walk through fields with livestock.

Horses will kill you with one swift kick.

They'll trample you if spooked.

They'll also snap your forearm with a single bite if you get too close.

Thats just some tame horses. Many are lovely, but stay out of their paddock. They are normally private land with no right to roam or ramble.

Never, ever, approach wild horses either.

I got into a situation when I was walking my dog many years ago. We started to cross a field and a herd of cows began moving towards us quickly. I got a feeling it was going to turn ugly, and we backed out quickly, just in time, as they began to run towards us. It was a popular well used public footpath going through there and I hadn't thought there would be any problem, but clearly there was. I've always felt a bit on edge crossing fields with cows since then.

Some of these posts are making me want to leap onto a table and begin a very aggressive rendition of Manchester Rambler.

The Public does. The law requires farmers to graze livestock in a way so their work, their undertaking, is safe, so far as is reasonably practicable. And that extends to members of public lawfully accessing public footpaths. If a farmer insists on grazing cows with calves in a field with a path, they need to have a good reason and be able to show why it was not reasonably practicable to use other land and not expose the public to that risk of death. Farmers have been prosecuted for this, and rightly so. https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais17ew.htm

I feel some people are overstating some of the issues here. I have a relative who is an experienced large animals vet and regularly walks the dog (on a lead) in fields with sheep and cattle. In Cambridge most of the large green spaces are grazed by cattle and people walk their dogs there without any issues. (Of course it helps that the cattle in question are used to this.)

We got charged at by a herd of cows at our local amphitheatre having a picnic. To say we shot up that hill is an understatement. It's just lucky we were sat at the bottom. I always turn back if there's cows on the path or if we would have to go through a field. I remember that fireman a few years ago drove through a heard of cows and they trampled the poor farmer. It's not just fields you need to be aware of them. It's driving down country lanes as well.

Use the enclosures. The New Forest is slightly different in that you can enter the enclosures, or cross the cattle grids. Plus the pigs in the autumn are much scarier.

I grew up with black and white fresian cows next to my grandparents house, they were harmless, we used go into the field and stroke them.

However had a very nasty experience involving a group of kids in a field of cows once. Since then, I cannot and will not go into a field with cows.

Thanks for the advice, it’s good to know.