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.

Especially the not picking the dog up thing. Excellent advice.

This happens to dairy cows. Cattle in fields are more likely to be beef cows who keep their calves till they are weaned naturally. So much nonsense on here.

Somebody told me that calves are taken from their mother's after a short time so we can have the milk. Wonder if cows get psychologically damaged by that?

This is correct.

We'd take the calves away after 3 or 4 days max, the cow then went back into the herd for milking but weeks later if she saw a calf, usually if someone left the calf shed open... would go mad to get to it, v sad.

I remember the herdsman saying to me "wonder what they'd do if you slipped and fell, as you bought them in for milking? i wouldn't want to find out"

Oh dear. These farming stories are 😳

It's not as simple as don't go in the field when you live rurally. Certainly where I live it's footpaths with cows and sheep often in the fields or lanes with no pavements.

Off topic but the cry of the cows (and sheep )when separated from babies is something else, I'd never heard it before and it is shocking and goes on and on.
(Ive not eaten lamb or beef for a while)

In my experience the ewes can’t wait to get rid of their giant lambs chewing away on their udders

Never worked with sheep, so cannot comment but did see this with cows over many years.

Not sure i'd call them "babies" though, but the simple fact is, people drink milk & once that cow has cleared the colostrum from its system, then it needs to start making money for the farmer, the calf is then fed on formula until weaned.

The cows we milked - South Devons - definitely did not want to separated from their calves.

Doubt too many people are hunted down by sheep @derxa

Currently pregnant so this will be an entirely spite-fuelled rendition. 😀

From killercows -

There are about 9.7m cattle in the UK. Meanwhile, 3.6 billion people annually visit the countryside, with dog walking accounting for 51% of visits.

We searched newspaper reports over two decades, and identified 54 separate attacks by cattle on members of the public out walking. Of these, 24% were fatal.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports deaths, not attacks. They say that on average four to five people are killed in accidents involving cattle each year, with 74 fatal attacks since 2000. Most were farm workers, but a quarter (24%) of these deaths were members of the public walking on footpaths or commonly used rights of way.

People may think that bulls are most likely to attack – remember the beginning of Ferdinand the Bull. But while they cause more fatalities among farm workers, both official reports and our work suggest that this is not the case for people out walking.

Where recorded, 91% of HSE reported fatalities on the public were caused by cows with calves; only one death involved a bull, and even this was unproven in court. Of all attacks, we found that 48% were caused by (unspecified) herds, followed by single cows (22%), cows and calves (20%), heifers (7%), and one bull attack (2%). Behavioural research suggests maternal defensive aggression may be behind many attacks.

Does having a dog make a difference? Yes: dogs look like predators, and they are even more threatening to dairy cattle than unfamiliar people. This is reflected in the data: 94% of walkers killed had dogs, and two thirds of all attacks involved dogs. Though our sample numbers were small, we also found evidence suggesting that women were more likely to protect their dogs, while men let them go – the recommended advice.

The area of farmland is also smaller because some of it has been built on (roads, houses) or compulsory purchased (HS2) and some of it has been turned over to forestry.

So interesting that it’s us women who tend to pick up or hang on to our dogs. Our own maternal instincts maybe? But it’s exactly what NOT to do if the worst happens. We panic and forgot they can run ten times faster than us.

I'm very careful because I was brought up in the countryside. I've also been chased by a mad horse. Walking through a field of cows is a risk but go for it if you want to take that risk. I also recommend keeping your dog on a lead but don't listen to me.

That reminds me when I was walking one afternoon in Pamplona during an early summer holiday. As I was heading towards the market square I heard a commotion behind me and several young bulls were running towards me.

Cognisant of the fact that more people are killed falling down stairs than falling off ladders I decided to sprint ahead while carefully looking around for a ladder to climb. Bingo, I found one and up I sprinted until I reached an Italian carpenter at the top repairing a clock. The weight of the two of us imbalanced the ladder and while I slid down the poor carpenter could only reach out for the hands of the clock. He was left their hanging with the bulls running under him as I crouched down on the ground like a young lion king. Eventually the bulls disappeared round the corner leaving a trail of dust and I helped the carpenter down.

Later that evening while enjoying a glass of Sangiovese in the market square I realised how they do cattle differently in Spain. Dog walkers came buy, politely saying hello, and just like in England with our hawthorn bushes adjacent to public gateways, they twizzled their little blag bags of dogshit round to propel them to catch onto the branches of the local olive trees.

they twizzled their little blag bags of dogshit round to propel them to catch onto the branches

Why do dogwalkers do this? It is utterly disgusting.

That was my question - it's not about "wanting" to take a risk (and certainly not for me - I'm frightened of cows, plus I don't have a dog), but for when there isn't any reasonable alternative. For example, I once stayed somewhere with a 40 minute walk to the nearest bus stop, mostly through woods, and footpaths with fences on both sides, but also on a footpath/PROW through a field of cows. I got quite good at slowly walking through before they'd had time to realise I was there, but I hated it. When they did notice, my anxiety as they ambled towards me, as I ambled away, hit the roof. So it wasn't a question of "wanting" to take a risk, but of there being no real alternative. What are we supposed to do then?

I'm assuming you can make a risk assessment. If you walk through a field of cows you risk being trampled. The nearest I got was a herd running at me en masse, I managed to jump over a fence. However I know someone who was gouged.

I would be unlikely to move somewhere with such inaccessible public transport but surely you knew the situation before you moved.

So ( a couple of months ago this was us)

Been on a long walk - it was getting late, sunset was lovely but any alternative legal route bypassing the cows in the field would have added well over an hour to the return journey. And no guarantees that would be cow free either

Just "turn back " or "avoid " isn't always possible

However ( like dogs ) some types of cow are less problematic than others - highland vs jersey for example

And exits - less barbed wire to give people an easy escape route would also help

We walked through calmly in that case

The situation I knew before my stay there, was that there was a public footpath to the bus stop. I didn't know about the cows.

And this is what many other people have said - it's often impossible to know about the cows, because they move about from field to field (or just all over the place if they are on common land, or moors, or public parks, or whatever). Sometimes you really just need to get from point A to point B, on a public right of way, without the risk of being trampled. Which you are entitled to be able to expect, because it's a public right of way.

Like I said, you do a risk assessment. If you decide to take the risk, that's your choice. You know there's a possibly of being trampled when you walk into a field with cows.

Sone of the posts sound smug

Does anyone think about the risk of driving before setting out - 5 deaths a day and 80 injuries ?

Oh. Sounds like cows are more dangerous to pedestrians than cyclists - but probably less dangerous than cars to the pedestrians

Please ignore above, posted in error on wrong thread.

I think you missed the part where I said walking next to a field of cattle. With a fence.