A website demanding new laws to protect walkers from ‘killer cows’ in the countryside has shared stories of attacks and brushes with death in harrowing detail.
‘Killer Cows’ was set up by a group of walkers who had ‘experienced aggressive behaviour by cattle’.
The campaign is lobbying for legislation including compulsory public liability insurance for all farmers who keep livestock, cattle to be separated from walkers on National Trails and a national database of cow attacks.
Alongside its campaigning, the site is dedicated to sharing stories of ramblers attacked by cattle near farmers’ fields, with headlines including ‘Julia: scared for her life’ and ‘Martin and Margaret: Trampled by cows’.
One story describes how a woman named Julia was attacked by a herd while holidaying near Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland.
Out walking with her partner and dog on the rocky shore, she decided to walk on the path near cattle because she ‘believed that cows do not pose dangers to humans without dogs’.
She wrote: ‘The cows seemed to feel threatened by me, and began circling around me. Seeing this, and likely sensing aggression from the cows, my loyal dog escaped from his harness and ran towards me, then began growling at the cows…
‘Unfortunately, my partner and I were under the impression that the cows would be aggressive only to my dog, and not me.’
‘Killer Cows’ is a website set up by a group of walkers who had ‘experienced aggressive behaviour by cattle’. They are lobbying for new legislation, including compulsory public liability insurance for farmers who keep livestock
After her partner got the dog back in its harness, Julia described being stalked by a lone cow as she tried to walk away.
She wrote: ‘It was only three feet away… It was jumping up and down and snorting and looked like it was about to attack at any moment. I was absolutely terrified.
‘I could sense the cow, right there, hear it panting, see it snorting at me, see the ground move under it as it jumped up and down.
‘My partner, safely through the gate, and sensing I was about to be attacked, shouted run. I was now just ten or so feet from the gate – and so I did run.
‘Thankfully I reached the gate, managing to escape my brush with intense injury or death.’
Livestock owners are liable for damages caused to property by straying livestock. Damages caused to people often depend on individual circumstances and are assessed individually by the courts, although farmers are expected to carry out risk assessments and put up appropriate signage.
Where a farmer has failed to implement reasonable safety measures, they can also be liable for prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive.
Yesterday, Mail Online reported the story of Sharon Eley, 51, she said she was ‘lucky to be alive’ after being strangled and repeatedly headbutted by a herd of rampaging cows in Lancashire.
Sharon Eley was surrounded by 20 cows as she walked her five-year old Lhasa Apso called Ralphie in May this year.
The herd was led by an agitated ‘ringleader’ which threw her to the ground twice before repeatedly headbutting her, leaving her with 15 broken ribs, a punctured lung, a dislocated and shattered ankle and a broken clavicle.
The 51-year-old was also nearly garrotted when the strap on her bag wrapped around her throat during the attack, leaving her with a ligature mark around and severe bruising.
It was only when other walkers entered the field and managed to distract the cows that the glamping business owner was able to escape. The other walkers escaped unharmed.
Ms Eley managed to drag herself to her feet before a stand-off between her and one remaining cow, which eventually backed down. She was then able to crawl to the edge of the field and haul herself over a dry-stone wall.
From there, she was rushed to hospital by a Mountain Rescue team, where she underwent two surgeries on her ankle. She returned to her home in the village of Blacko, Lancashire a month later.
She is now urging others to be aware of their surroundings when enjoying walks through the countryside.
In February, a farmer was fined £900 after his herd of cows trampled an 82-year-old pensioner to death in front of his horrified wife during a walk in the Yorkshire Dales.
Farmer Christopher Paul Sharp, 50, was also given a 12 week suspended sentence after 20 of his cattle mowed down retired teacher David Tinniswood MBE on May 30, 2020.
Mr Tinniswood had been walking his two border terriers, Bracken and Rusty, with his wife Carol when the herd ‘attacked’ them on a public pathway through Sharp’s land near the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire.
Sharon Eley has said she is ‘very lucky to be alive’ after the ordeal involving around 20 cows when they attacked as she walked through the Lancashire countryside
She was walking in the Lancashine countryside with a pal and her dog Ralphie when the incident happened on May 22 earlier this year
