Warning Dogs And Cows + Calves!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Not always very well reported and still a bit rare maybe.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsbirm ... r-BB19j4OG
I have had firsthand experience of this type of thing.
Was walking through a field one day with a herd of cows with their calves Partner had gone ahead with dog on the lead, all I saw was a stampede of cows going down the hill, My partners head was disappearing!
Fortunately the dog was scared stiff and slipped the collar and then ran off.
Best advice I can give is to if there is more than one of you, let the most favoured person by your dogs go-ahead across the field, then when they are safe at an exit, Lead dog with fingers in its collar, If Cows approach you and you feel threatened you can let your dog go and it will run to the most favoured person.
You're on your own it's probably a good idea to hold the collar in the same way, The dog will run off and the cows will not be interested in you whatsoever.
This applies mostly to a field full of cows and calves.
Just a day or so after the incident we met with a farmer who said that, He has seen cows Trample their own calves to get to a farmer........

It's possible the incident posted above in the link did not include calves?

P.S.who is going to let go of the dogs lead in a situation like that?
The natural reaction is the try to keep your dog safe, but this could end in tragedy.

[mercalia]

This has happened before. I steer away from any animals bigger than me.

[Tangled Metal]

I thought it's well known to let your dogs go if cows threaten you in that way. I knew that as a kid swabs we never had a dog.

On the other hand it is part of a farmer's responsibility not to knowingly put dangerous animals such as cows with calves into a field with public footpaths if there is a high risk of the animals reacting. Same principle applies to bulls in fields with footpaths. I believe some farms have had action taken against them after public injury due to not having and adhering to such reasonable risk assessment and mitigation methods.

Having said that our dog likes to play with cows until they start waving their horns at her. She then loses interest and we catch her. Rare occasion though because we're very aware of what's around and control her on a lead if we suspect animals. Good recall too.

[Paulatic]

P.S.who is going to let go of the dogs lead in a situation like that?
The natural reaction is the try to keep your dog safe, but this could end in tragedy.

I’d of thought the natural reaction is to keep yourself safe. Dogs can look after themselves they can get kicked and head butted, I’ve seen plenty, but always survive.
I think the advice given is to let the dog off the lead. I’d say that depends on the dog as some of them their natural instinct will be to go behind your legs and still bait the cow. I’ve had plenty of sheep dogs do that
I tell people to, if it’s a small dog, pick it up into your arms. The cows loose interest then and only see you as another human.
Some cows after calving don’t like humans either
The biggest problem is the majority of people can’t differentiate between a suckler cow and a bullock. I’ve witnessed people panicked when getting followed by a herd of bullocks or heifers. They follow out of curiosity not fuelled by aggression. Don’t flee from them but stop, turn, put you hand out and let them lick your fingers then go boo! They’ll run a mile.

[Oldjohnw]

I seem to remember that most serious injuries/fatalities occur when people try to rescue their little dog, whereas the dog would almost certainly get away with it if left once it had run off. Best not to let it run off in the first place.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
It may be a well-known fact in the farming community someone has been brought up on a farm et cetera et cetera.
But me and my partner had to learn the hard way.
But I've never seen this fact advertised, even the teacher in the link posted was brought up on a farm?
In the cold light of day it's easy to say just let your dog run off so the cows don't come towards you, But in the heat of the moment how many people would know to drop the lead and save their life.

[pete75]

P.S.who is going to let go of the dogs lead in a situation like that?
The natural reaction is the try to keep your dog safe, but this could end in tragedy.

I’d of thought the natural reaction is to keep yourself safe. Dogs can look after themselves they can get kicked and head butted, I’ve seen plenty, but always survive.
I think the advice given is to let the dog off the lead. I’d say that depends on the dog as some of them their natural instinct will be to go behind your legs and still bait the cow. I’ve had plenty of sheep dogs do that
I tell people to, if it’s a small dog, pick it up into your arms. The cows loose interest then and only see you as another human.
Some cows after calving don’t like humans either
The biggest problem is the majority of people can’t differentiate between a suckler cow and a bullock. I’ve witnessed people panicked when getting followed by a herd of bullocks or heifers. They follow out of curiosity not fuelled by aggression. Don’t flee from them but stop, turn, put you hand out and let them lick your fingers then go boo! They’ll run a mile.

Considering what we've done to bullocks its surprising they haven't a great hatred for humans.

[simonineaston]

drop the lead and save their life

Been there, done that... horrid. Trouble with cows, bless 'em, is they're sooo stupid. And big. And heavy. And fast. And scary.
On the other hand, I spent a few years cycling home from work in central Oxford, south down the along the Isis, and often encountered a herd of small brown jobbies (herefords?), grazing on the water-meadows. Especially in late autumn, past dusk with fog and darkness shrouding everything, the first I'd know about them would be the sound of their moving around the undergrowth, and I'd find myself in the middle of the whole herd. They never turned a hair. Mind you, I never had the dog with me.

[pwa]

drop the lead and save their life

Been there, done that... horrid. Trouble with cows, bless 'em, is they're sooo stupid. And big. And heavy. And fast. And scary.
On the other hand, I spent a few years cycling home from work in central Oxford, south down the along the Isis, and often encountered a herd of small brown jobbies (herefords?), grazing on the water-meadows. Especially in late autumn, past dusk with fog and darkness shrouding everything, the first I'd know about them would be the sound of their moving around the undergrowth, and I'd find myself in the middle of the whole herd. They never turned a hair. Mind you, I never had the dog with me.

I believe that if you are used to cattle you can detect their mood and behave accordingly. If you know they have seen you and yet they are still focusing on grazing, all is well. But if they are looking at you and seem a bit twitchy, have your escape plan ready. I always take a stick when I know I may encounter cattle. It helps when driving the youngsters away. But I don't have a dog and that, apparently, ramps up the danger quite a bit.

[Paulatic]

NFU advice https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sector/ ... -the-risk/

[Lakelander]

I was walking with a friend and his two Whippets near Magpie Mine,Sheldon,near Bakewell about three years ago and we were chased out of the field by some very aggressive cows.They came the full length of the field as soon as we entered.They weren’t curious they were really aggressive.
A couple of weeks later a lady was killed in the same field and I believe another person has been trampled a couple of fields away since then.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

NFU advice https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sector/ ... -the-risk/

Thanks for the link, the first time I've seen that printed anywhere, not that I go looking for it.
I've spent the last 50 years walking in fields across moorlands with cows horses sheep et cetera.
i'm always a bit wary of the things but I know that as you get within about 4 feet of them they don't like to be there anymore.
So I've had to shove myself through many a gate on a public footpath they just get out of the way.
I only realised after my incident that they are not very friendly if they have young.
My partner must've been 50 yards from them when the cows and the young started to stampede.
Quite recently me and my partner without a dog walking through a field with some cows.
I was telling her about the time me and someone else were up on the moors walking and there was his great big bull with great bighorns guarding it's flock.
And lo and behold there is this great big bull With some heifers, you just move along quietly and get out the way
One day up on the moors I was on my bike going down the track, I sense they didn't wanna move for me because I had some sort of machinery with me, cows like machinery because it reminds them of getting fed by the farmer, not the first time I've had to get a move on after being followed across a dark misty field one evening looking for somewhere to camp, it's pretty easy to lead cows around if they think they're going to get fed I think.
Anyway there was a fence nearby my bike was on one side and I was on the other side because I couldn't lift my bike over the fence and I just walked along one side of the fence pushing my bike on the other side seem to work at the time.

[Paulatic]

Another very recent incident. Not sure if a dog is involved.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-54302716
I take issue with a lot of the advice given and IIRC in that NFU advice it says Spring and Summer. Fails to recognise cows calve in the autumn too. In fact all year round.
The first person I knew to be killed by beasts, not cows, was back in the sixties. He was an elderly farmer who we presumed fell over Once on the ground they butted and rolled him about. You can observe the same behaviour if you put a small bale of straw in with them.

[Navara]

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/police-appeal ... 01289.html

Didn't have a dog but a dog walker walked past them just before the incident.

[RickH]

Given the number of people who go walking in the countryside the risks from cattle are low. Although that doesn't mean you shouldn't be aware of what could happen so you can act accordingly.

Between 2015-16 and 2019-2020 the HSE investigated 142 incidents. Only 22 of them resulted in a death and the majority related to people who worked with cattle.
Members of the public accounted for only four of those deaths, the HSE confirmed.
It added that it investigated 65 non-fatal incidents involving cattle and members of the public over the same period.(BBC News - How common is it for walkers to be killed by cows?)