To think you don't deal with an escaped cow by running it over!

[Dobbyafreeelf]

Last night Thames Valley Police deliberately hit and killed an escaped cow in a residential area. They claim it was out of control. Had they backed off and moved people away it would have likely calmed down enough to be contained. Chasing it caused it to injure a member of the public and police officer. It was not killed outright by being run over!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-57112449

AIBU to think that this is not a humane way of dispatching an animal? If it was that out of control surely firearms should have been used to dispatch it!

@Tambora

"humanely euthanised" it says in the BBC report. Driving a police van into a cow four times is not humane.

This is a disgrace.

No. It was hit and then humanely put down.

They aren't saying that hitting it with a vehicle is humane!

What disgrace? Human lives, cow's life...

@Dobbyafreeelf contrary to popular belief, your average firearms officer is not a 'trained marksman'. Yes they are trained and regularly requalify to shoot firearms. Marksman however is very specialised and there are very few per force depending on requirements. They are certainly not going to deploy to shoot a cow. You are angry and refusing to listen. Shooting a moving cow was not an option. They couldn't contain it and time was of the essence. Police don't just run over cows because they can. It cost them thousands in vehicle damage no doubt and risked injury to the officers. Why on earth wouldn't they take the cheaper option of firearm if it was truly an option?!

@snowdropsandcrocuses if you had actually bothered to read my posts then you would have understood that I DO UNDERSTAND why they did what they did. I don't agree it was the right way to handle it but they did what they did in the moment.
What I think is wrong is that TVP initially have tried to make out that what they did was humane. It wasn't!!! Hitting a cow four times is not humane however you dress it up. It might have been the only option but it wasn't humane!

@CuriousaboutSamphire TVP did initially make out that what they did was a humane way to dispatch the cow!

@OrangeRug

It's a terrible way to die. As is being strung upside down and having your throat slit, which is how she would have died otherwise. If people didn't fund animal abuse by buying meat then the poor creature wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place.

Oh bollocks. Have you never heard about captive bolt stunning?

@Tambora

"humanely euthanised" it says in the BBC report. Driving a police van into a cow four times is not humane.

This is a disgrace.

They're not saying it was humane.

They're saying the vet turning up and shooting it was humane. But until the vet turned up, the police had to do what they could to keep the public safe.

I live in the land of farmers and tractors; cows can be really dangerous and the death rates by cows is surprisingly high.. for cows!

The article reads that it charged and injuries a woman and officer.

To prevent more injuries and possible fatalities they did was was necessary. It’s very sad for the cow and I hate to see any animal get hurt; but it was a justifiable action for the circumstances. It sounds like they did try to control it, but couldn’t.

And all the cattle escapes round here lately have been to do with arsehole walkers and cyclists cutting fences, not poor maintenance by farmers, who generally don't want their cows out.

Had a social thing arranged on zoom with a friend recently, and she didn't make it because she and her husband were chasing around the lanes rounding some of their cattle: cut fence, again.

And it's a Friday night and I meant stunning followed by captive bolt slaughter.

I grew up on a farm where my parents hobby bred rare breed cattle. With the exception of highlands, I am terrified of cows.
They are unpredictable, large and can be VERY hard to calm down. Chances of doing that safely in a residential area are slim.
I presume OP that you don’t eat beef or dairy as if you don’t want to cause distress to cows you wouldn’t support an industry that takes calves away from their parents at a young age, which causes huge distress?

Maybe it knew it was going to be turned into burgers so thought fuck it im going to go down fighting

@Porcupineintherough

Tbh I wouldn't fancy taking a cow down with a car either. For one thing it (the car ) would be totalled, for another there's a fair chance it would end up sliding up the bonnet and through the windscreen ending up on top of you.

Really grim for all concerned

My mate's son wrote his car off when he drove into an escaped bull on an unlit road one night.

Badly bruised his ribs, too.

If a cow was about to trample anyone, I'd happily run my car into it/ shoot it.

I can't believe all the stupid people saying that a vet should have been called - they're busy and don't come on demand.

It's an animal and has limited comprehension

Why didnt they just get a vet to sedate it?
Assuming it was moving lots.
Or get the farmer or a vet to talk to it, calm it down and walk it back to its field? 🤣 Nope there is a reason for the word's combined "mad cow"

As others have said cattle are very dangerous and kill quite a feed people every year. It wasn’t ideal but better than a someone being killed or seriously injured.

When you buy metal gates for fields and barns you choose from cattle strength and not cattle strength. Cattle gathering Pens in fields are built from steel girders fixed in concrete and motorway crash barriers.
Pigs are another very dangerous animal

So ramming it multiple times with a police car was a better option then?
Okay..........
Yes it was the easiest option to stop an immediate danger to the public.
The cow injured two people, she was panicked and angry how could the vet approach her for a chat or to inject?
It's sad for all involved.

Scared cows are very very dangerous. If you’ve never witnessed one you won’t understand just how much damage they can do.

“When you buy metal gates for fields and barns you choose from cattle strength and not cattle strength”

Yep, and I’ve seen a herd of spooked cows destroy cattle strength barn gates when the hunt went by. Absolutely terrifying strength.

Typical morning after shoulda woulda squad comments.

@PenfoldPenny

Withdrawn

Have you ever met a cow?? You can't talk them down they are really not that clever. They get spooked easily and their go to response is flight. Add to this the sheer weight of them and they are very dangerous. I grew up around cows and honestly they terrify me when they start running.

How weird, I was just telling DH about my journey home this evening, when I saw a cow break from a herd that was crossing the road and she attacked her handler. Repeatedly, violently, head butting her handler and crashing into her. Luckily a lorry driver jumped out of his cab with a baseball bat and fended it off, was awful to watch but the handler was only a small young lass and I honestly think she would have been killed.
My mum suffered broken ribs when she was crushed by a cow on their farm and my cousin had his car written off when a cow jumped a hedge and landed on his windscreen. They are powerful, unpredictable animals. The police wouldn't have taken that decision lightly, poor sods will have to be dragged through an enquiry now...as they would if a member of the public got killed. They absolutely can't win.

YANBU. Shocking story.

OP do you work for the police because you see to know how easy it would be to get firearms out and there instant availability .