Public Right of way - proceed with caution!

[galina]

We have just come home after visiting a friend who has been through a harrowing experience.

Last weekend he went walking on a public footpath with his dog on the lead.  There were cows at the edge of the field grazing with their calves.  Suddenly everything went crazy and the cows came charging towards him and attacked him.  He got knocked down, headbutted, trampled etc.  He thinks he blacked out for a while, then came to,  battered, bruised and bleeding, with a dislocated shoulder, torn muscles down his arm and internal injuries, including a bruised kidney.  He tried to phone for help.  The dog was gone, he must have let go of the lead at some stage, but came back shortly after unhurt. Another walker had witnessed what was happening, came and helped get him across a field and into the ambulance.  After three days in hospital, our friend was sent home, but will need further treatment and has a long recuperation ahead of him.  He is lucky to be alive.

A bit of research on Google explained why it happened.  Cows with calves can be very aggressive and will attack dogs with the person attached to the dog usually coming off worst.  Our friend held on to the lead when the cows came charging.  This was certainly a mistake (hindsight is a wonderful thing), because the dog would have outrun the cows.  The cattle might not have attacked our friend had they gone after the dog.  Apparenty these type of attacks are getting more frequent and there have been a number of fatal ones.  Two years ago ex-minister David Blunkett and his guide dog were attacked apparently.  But there is little public awareness.   Dog owners who are doing the right thing and keeping their dogs on leads on public footpaths through fields are making themselves particularly vulnerable to such an attack.  Cows with young calves are on edge particularly at this time of year and can club together to see off any dog, even those that are not threatening them.  They would probably not have gone after our friend alone, although there have also been attacks without dogs involved.

Take care, especially when walking with dogs and children!  Public right of way does not mean that it is actually safe to walk there.



 

[galina]

[Unwashed]

Top post Galina.  It's taken me some years, but I've finally convinced Mrs U. how dangerous cows can be when you have a dog.  Cows with calves especially so, but bullocks can be very aggressive too.  Every time there's a story on the news about a walker trampled by rampaging cows I always say I-told-you-so, and there's always a dog involved.

[Bill Door]

Not only dangerous when you have a dog.  They can be very fiesty when it is hot and the flies are giving them problems.

Remember when they bump into you they don't have the ability to say sorry, just to kick out.

The same applies to some sheep.  They are the wrong height.

Bill

P.S. we love em really

[mat]

Yes, even a vet was sadly killed in Hawes, N Yorkshire about 2 years ago when walking her 2 dogs... 

I worked with cattle many years ago, and when walking throuhh a field with no dog, they are usually curious (esp. bullocks) and will usually  stop when coming up to you... But cows with young calves are very dangerous when strange dogs are present.  I am not sure cows are getting more aggressive, but that there are now more "suckler herds" (i.e. cows who rear their own calves) than there were 30 years ago.  This means more kept in fields with public footpaths.  Likewise I believe more people are out walking on public footpaths than there used to be.  Together this means the frequency of attacks will increase. 

Bulls are banned from public footpaths, unless they are a beef breed and with cows... I do wonder when cows and young calves will be banned.

I hope your friend recovers.  I had a dislocated shoulder a few years ago, and it took 7 months before I could drive, and a year before I got most movement back in my shoulder.  I still cannot pluck up the courage to try and swim...  he needs to ensure he gets long term physio (York hosp were brilliant to me in this regard)

[Jeannine]

Terrible story. Is there a sign up that warns folks, if not there should be.  The thought od someone walking with kids and dogs, or a baby stroller is very scary.

XX Jeannine

[mat]

p.s. tips...

Try and avoid fields with young calves if you are with a dog
NEVER EVER get between a cow and her calf (even without a dog)
if with a dog, let it off the lead IF the cows start to look upset (or charge!)
NEVER run away from cattle, bullocks especially will think this is a game!
If bullocks run towards you and you are not next to a fence you can quickly get over, keep still, watch them, stamp your feet and shout at them and wave your arms.
If I am in a field with cows and calves, which look concerned, I walk along the fence line, so i can get over the fence quickly if necessary

Jeannine - a sign is counter productive - a sign means the farmer KNOWS his cattle are a risk, and it is against the law to keep anything on a public footpath which a farmer knows may attack.  I laugh at the signs which say "Beware of the Bull" because if the bull attacked, the farmer would then be responsible...

[Jeannine]

While I sympathise with the farmer, the reality is the cows are dangerous, a sign lets the uneducated know that. I feel certain thnat there are people walking along these footpaths that don`t know how to behave around them.

I think the sign  should be mandated and not be a choice for the farmer.

If a sign can go up telling drivers be careful when driving near wildlife  to protect deer etc, surely a sign to protect people is not only advisable it is essential.

To me it is fundamentalyy essential and should be a law!!

XX Jeannine

[Fork]

A sad story indeed

I dont think I will have any such problems though.Sometimes I walk my dog close to fields where there are cows grazing.....if those cows are close to the fence or hedge my dog as to be vurtually dragged past them....and there is no chance at all he will go in the field!

[Ben Acre]

Its common sense, any countryman knows to avoid fields of cattle if you are dog walking.

[Mr Smith]

We had a case not to far away from us last year when a couple in similar circumstances where attacked by a cow which had a calve and the lady was killed, although I sympathize with the above post personally if you are going to visit the countryside be aware of the dangers,  only last week I was walking through fields in the Peak District which had cows, calves and bullocks munching away in some of the fields,  

[cambourne7]

did they find the dog?

Was on countryfile a few years ago very scary glad they survived!

[gp.girl]

Don't assume that the lack of a dog will prevent an attach. A local woman got charged by cows despite not having a dog. Local idiots had been 'teasing' the cows and they had become very defensive/aggressive.

Having said that I've moved a beef bull and his ladies off a footpath before now. Only because there was no other way round and they were clearly very relaxed.

[galina]

Mat,  yes he did mention physio appointments and hopes to get back to driving within a month or so.  Based on your experiences this may be too optimistic.  I had no idea that a shoulder can take that long to heal.  He mentioned that there is a risk of getting arthritis in the shoulder as a long term effect from this.   

Cam, yes, the dog returned as soon as they had got out of the cow field and made their way to the track that the ambulance could drive down.  She was unhurt and came in the ambulance too and was handed over to his wife at the hospital.

There will be an article in the local paper, so hopefully a lot more people will be informed about the dangers of walking in fields with cows. 

[Squash64]

How scary, poor man.

Thank goodness we don't have this problem where I walk my dogs, although Vera did chase four police horses once......

[mat]

I really feel for your friend, as a dislocated shoulder is one of the most painful accidents to have.  Hopefully his shoulder will heal more quickly than mine, but a dislocated shoulder is more serious than  a break.  Mine was several inches out of the joint for 5 hours, and I was told it would take a year to heal, and it did take a year.  I too hoped I would start driving sooner, but the physio just raised her eyes...  Friends suggested I change my car for an automatic, but I didn't want to "give in".  My accident was Nov 2007, I could finally change the gears in my car without too much pain in June 2008.  I received a year of physio as I was going to Antarctica in Dec 2008 and had to have sufficient arm movement to get on/off the zodiacs from the ship.  I just about had sufficient movement, but no insurance company would cover my arm, so I had to take the risk of not having it re-dislocate, and tended to strap it up when getting on/off the ship.  It took me 2 years before I could raise my arm sufficiently to change a light bulb...  And I still get occasional muscle pains down the arm when I am tired after a days walk, etc, like deep cramp.  I still put my coats, etc on in a different way, and I am still scared to go swimming in case my left arm will not move correctly!  Shame as I used to do sea kayaking, but I have heard that people who have already dislocated their arm, have a high chance of doing it again when kayaking...  Still, at least your friend is not female and doesn't have a problem with getting a bra on  ;D ;D ;D  If he is in pain a lot, get him to go back to his GP to get stronger pain killers.  Mine gave me amongst other things "Arthrotec" as it helped reduce the inflammation and joint pain, despite it normally being for arthritis!  Without scaring him, get him to take STRONG pain killers before physio... 

He'll be fine physically, but it will take time.   No doubt he won't walk thru a cow field again  ::)

[djbrenton]

The severity of a dislocation is largely determined by the length of time the joint is dislocated. Pop it back in immediately and you may suffer virtually no long term effects, leave it out for hours and it may never recover 100%. My dad had a bad shoulder all his life as a result of slow relocation.

[Kea]

As a walker (and farmers daughter) I am quite concerned when I come across cows and/bullocks in a field with a public footpath as i kept out of fields with cattle in as a child on the farm. One thing that is a problem is that sometimes you are not aware that a field has cattle in it until it's too late.

[gwynnethmary]

On Monday I joined some friends who are doing the Coast to Coast walk and walked 10 miles with them.  We had to go through a field with young bullocks in it.  They sort of looked up from munching and moved about a bit, but we were fine.  We had a farmer's wife with us, which helped our confidence level.  Thank you for allerting us to the danger of walking through fields where there are cows with calves.