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.

The national herd size is 28% less than it was at its peak in the 90s.

Automated milking has been a thing for decades now.

Dairy cows spend less time outside than ever before, as v high milk yields need additional feed and larger herd sizes mean its often impractical to have cows outside for too long.

Cow don't live long before going to slaughter, so its unlikely they have evolved to hunt down humans.....

Greater countryside access is the issue in regard to cows chasing walkers plus most people wouldn't have a clue between what is a dairy cow, heffer, bullock ..... so just use the term "Cow" to describe cattle.

Then do your own risk assessments. Read the walk description, take into account the season, the type of livestock likely to be there. Is there a detour to avoid that field? Will you be walking with a dog or small children you might have to pick up? Etc.

As soon as you double-fence (or hedge) a field (separating off the footpath from the rest of the field) you not only have to pay for the installation of the fence/hedge to begin with, but you have to then pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the same. And you’ve made it more difficult to maintain the original hedge/fence because now you can’t drive your hedge-cutting tractor alongside it. Then there’s the growth of the vegetation where the footpath runs, in the funnel you’ve created - the livestock aren’t grazing it anymore because you fenced it off, so someone needs to try to mow or cut a path through it several times a year. Times that by however many fields on your farm…

Yes, but what has happened to the average herd size per farm (and thus, per field)?

This is in fact the most important aspect of the thread - if you do happen to find yourself in a field with cows when walking your dog, if they approach you with any kind of intent let the dog go.

Obviously keep the dog on a lead if the cows are just standing unbothered the other side of the field, but if you’re rushed and crowded by them let the dog off the lead.

Also, sorry to correct a self styled cattle expert, but it's "heifer", not "heffer" 😆

i’m worried about excessive human intervention in the natural world…farming is already a tricky balance between nature and industry. It doesn’t always balance but generally those that work the land are whose very existence depends on the land are most invested in managing it with care and consideration. Those who see the natural world as a space that should be managed in ways that best suit their personal pleasures are a worry, yes.

Round here, footpaths go all over the place, not mainly around perimeters. Many cross areas of marsh too and we have open ditches, sink holes, ponds, streams, reservoirs etc…should all these be fenced off too? And yes, aside from economic and aesthetic concerns, fencing off large tracts of land that prohibits the free movements of our wild animals is not an idea I could ever get behind…

i do agree that farmers have a responsibility to maintain access to footpaths and ensure gates/stiles etc are safe, and mitigate risks to users… of course I have a right to use those public footpaths but , unlike the fencing enthusiasts, I recognise that when exercising that right I have to take responsibility for my own safety - by being alert to potential dangers and able to make informed judgements about my actions. I don’t expect to - or wish to - inhabit a sanitised, risk-free world.

Our friends dog was killed by cattle after they let it off as recommended- it didn’t run around and was walking to heel.
my friend had to climb a tree with his child on his shoulder where they unfortunately witnessed the dog being killed.

There is a right to roam in England, but only in certain areas, definitely not on enclosed farmland.

It's not a question of "feeling entitled" - we ARE entitled to use public rights of way. They are a right, not a privilege, not least because those paths were in most cases there long before the private farms that are there now.

"Civilised countries", as you put it, should not be in the habit of routinely extinguishing ancient, long-standing rights, just because some private citizens find those rights personally inconvenient to them.

A long stick is very effective. A walking stick or long shepherds crook.
You can use it to wave in the air (do star jumps while waving your stick around & making loud noises)
You can also use to prod them on the nose if they get to close as a last resort. I’m not suggesting any body whacks a cow with the stick but a firm prod can move the cow in another direction. When it moves it face in another direction say “go on, go on” and hopefully the cow will move away.

We have cows. When husband and I were first dating we were charged at by cows in a field with public right of way(not our cows). Didn’t see the cows until we were half way over the field.
I was terrified when they suddenly charged us, no dog with us, no calves in the field.
Husband did the steps above and we managed to make it out of the field unscathed.

We never walk in a field of cows (knowingly!) ever. Not even our own cows that we know each animal individually.

Thanks @Farmersweeklyreader - I use walking poles so that’s really very helpful x

Ben Fogle's father, Bruce, a farmer and experienced veterinarian, was trampled by his herd. He spotted one of the calves and thought it looked a bit iffy, went into the field with his vet bag and forgot his own rules. Don't approach animals with their young. Never do it. And never take another animal, unless it's a trained herder, into a field with livestock in it. Mr Fogle was OK but pretty bruised. Am recalling this from newspaper reports. Cows though. Big and heavy. Treat them with respect and keep your distance.

But what do you do if that's where the footpath goes and there's no way around? I walk to work using public footpaths and it goes through a field of cows. There's no alternative.

Farmers who put dangerous animals in a field where people have a right of way should face criminal charges. Around me, there is a farmer who knows his cows are potentially lethal, but he's also quite happy to effectively shut the footpath. Absolutely outrageous behaviour and if anyone ever gets hurt in that field, I will make damn sure H&S and police know about those cows' behaviour.

Tell that to HSE if a cow takes someone out! And yes, having a right to use a footpath does supersede a farmers' right to put dangerous animals in that field.

We walk through fields which some of the year will have cows to get to school, to get to the doctors, to get to the supermarket. My kids use these routes daily. I used the same routes with them as babies. Unless you’d prefer the route that is four miles further on unlit A roads, to get to the bridge, and back? What’s safer?

I wouldn’t be able to use most local services or do any of my outdoor hobbies if I couldn’t cross a field or several. And for some of the year they contain cows, sheep, horses. I’d be penned in to my garden or only able to walk on tarmac roads without crossing fields and so would most people I know. The cars are 100% more dangerous than the cows, neither is risk free, both require respect and understanding and for you to behave according to the rules to minimise the risk.

National walking trails, published and monitored, advertised and funded, stretch for miles through farmland filled with livestock. Local trails advertised and published by councils and tourist information take routes through fields with livestock. Pay-to-enter, risk-assessed footraces, fellruns, marathons, sponsored walks and walking marathons take routes and waymark through well populated cattle fields. Local historical houses with national significance and well used well known grounds hosting all kinds of events and trails have free roaming livestock.

It is mind boggling that anyone could suggest not entering a space with livestock, because it’s akin to saying, don’t use roads and you won’t get in a car accident. Well sure, but you also won’t leave your house.

"As soon as you double-fence (or hedge) a field (separating off the footpath from the rest of the field) you not only have to pay for the installation of the fence/hedge to begin with, but you have to then pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the same. And you’ve made it more difficult to maintain the original hedge/fence because now you can’t drive your hedge-cutting tractor alongside it. Then there’s the growth of the vegetation where the footpath runs, in the funnel you’ve created - the livestock aren’t grazing it anymore because you fenced it off, so someone needs to try to mow or cut a path through it several times a year. Times that by however many fields on your farm…"
@NoSquirrels

Many farmers near me seem to manage this okay with electric fencing so you can still do the maintenance in winter when the cows are off the field.
It works really well even for through field public rights of way.

I quite agree.

We need more access to nature and more laws regarding maintenance and safety regarding public rights of way.
The council departments are woefully understaffed and never resolve any blocked path issues. I had to resort to clearing a path myself in the summer - always take secateurs on a walk now.
The path crossed a footbridge which was partially hidden by tall nettles and brambles so could have been really dangerous if someone took a wrong footing.

Same! Have a cow phobia now - there's no way you'd get me in a field with even one of them. We have cows all around us here.
If there's an alternative route that's 100 times as long, I'm taking it.
I've come in for quite a bit of piss-taking over this when I walk with people, but once you've been chased down the road, right up to your gate, by a runaway cow that's escaped the farm, you see things differently! 😟

As i said, a lot bigger than ever, hence dairy cattle in these herds spend less time outdoors.

I cannot find any figures on this but i would suspect that the reason we hear more of these "attacks" is down to greater countryside access.

But please all: 74 people were killed as result of cattle, 70% by bulls or newly calved cows, so about 50 people.

BUT 787 people died as a results of falls on steps or stairs - not ladders.

..i'm not seeing all the threads calling for stairs to be banned or fenced off???

You know that most countryside in the UK is in private ownership? Our national parks are primarily made up of farmland and privately owned woodlands. They aren’t publicly owned. Coastal paths generally run through farmland. Long distance routes use public footpaths across private land.

I’d love some suggestions of where to walk that isn’t private land - there is nothing around me unless I walk down the side of the road.

If you are in NZ, it is very different - you have huge swathes of land in public ownership. We don’t here.

What about Cambridge there are cows wandering all over the place there?

This is helpful for me.
New house in remote country side, cows are all over fields with public paths - the only way to walk is on the edge of the cow fields and I have two small dogs.

We try to be sensible and follow much of this advice and teach our DC to be careful too, we've never had a problem but I cautious. We had a bull right outside our house recently and a biker jumped into our garden as didn't fancy riding past.

You're right my instinct would be to pick up my dachshunds as I'd worry they be trampled but I'll remember this and let them go, they are very fast - unlike me.