Campaigns

Our group, COWS, formed in 2017. Since then, we have been gathering data, reading stories reported to us via this website, and reviewing news reports on the net. As well as shocking stories of serious injuries, many people have told us about walks ruined by terrifying encounters with cattle. Some have given up walking in the countryside altogether.

This is unacceptable.

In our opinion, three actions would improve the situation for those of us who use our public footpath network in England and Wales.

1. Cattle to be separated from walkers on footpaths.
2. Compulsory public liability insurance for all farmers who keep livestock.
3. A central database to record all incidents of cattle attacks across England and Wales.

 

Now, we’ll examine our aims in more detail, explaining why we have chosen them.

With over 650 reports gathered in 6 years, we can conclude that any breed of cattle can present a risk to walkers, half the incidents reported to us did not involve dogs, and in most attacks there were no calves visible in the field.

1. Cattle to be separated from walkers on public footpaths.

There are over140,000 miles of official public footpaths across England and Wales. These protected footpaths are called Public Rights of Way (or PROWs) and the public has a legal right to walk along a PROW, no matter who owns the land.

In fact, it is “an offence to wilfully block free passage along a Public Right of Way without lawful authority or excuse”. 

Many of our public footpaths are ancient rights of way that precede the enclosure of fields and the keeping of cattle on modern farmland. Some of our paths are promoted as tourist attractions and attract long-distance hikers, such as our famous South West Coast Path. But whether the walk is long or short, the public expects routes that are safe and enjoyable, and they certainly don’t expect to be forced off the path by unconstrained cattle.

Our data shows that cattle pose a significant risk to the public while on a public footpath, and we have not been able to identify specific features that determine whether a herd is ‘safe’ or not. For this reason, we believe the only way to keep members of the public safe while they exert their legal right to walk along a path is complete separation of walkers from cattle.

You can read more about the legal status of Public Rights of Way on the Ramblers’ website: Rights of Way in England and Wales

 

2. All farmers who keep livestock to have public liability insurance.

Everybody who has been injured by cattle has the right to fair compensation.

This is not so victims can make money or “profit” from their accident, but to obtain general damages to compensate for the pain and suffering they have gone through during and after the attack. They should also receive reimbursement for any financial expenses they may have incurred through their injuries (such as travel costs for medical appointments, personal care at home, etc.), and for any financial losses if they were unable to work for a period.

It is possible a victim may suffer from a permanent disability that will need lifelong expensive care and treatment. An incident may not just impact on the victim, but on family who may be financially dependent on the victim. What would be their immediate and future situation it the cattle owner was not able to meet their justifiable claims?

It may come as surprise to you to learn that public liability insurance is not already compulsory for business. It should be

If the farmer has insurance, you may find a firm of solicitors willing to take on your case on a “no win, no fee” basis, and as long as your claim is reasonable you will, eventually, come to a settlement with the insurance company. If the farmer does not have insurance, you will find it hard to secure legal representation, and the whole process is much more difficult, especially if the livestock owner claims they have no assets.

You can read stories about the difficulties involved in suing livestock owners by following links from our page: Injured by cattle – should I sue?

Just as car drivers are required to have insurance, so too should owners of livestock. We want this to be a compulsory legal requirement.

3. A central database to record all incidents of cattle attacks across England and Wales.

There is a shortage of good data on cattle incidents.

Cattle attacks are thought to be rare. We know they’re actually far more common than people realise, but the true scale of the problem goes unrecognised because of the lack of hard data. The data we have collected almost certainly represents the tip of the iceberg. 

We don’t know, for example, how many people are injured each year. We don’t know if particular breeds are more likely to attack than others. We don’t know if you are more likely to be attacked if walking alone, or if walking as a couple, or if walking in large groups.

When people do have an unpleasant encounter with cattle, many people don’t report it. Even if they do report the event, they may report it to any number of different bodies: the Health and Safety Executive, the Ramblers, the Local Authority, the landowner, the police, etc.

The best data we have comes from a couple of researchers at the University of Liverpool, who used information from newspaper reports. (You can read a summary of their findings here: Some facts and figures: When cattle attack… ) They called for “a well-designed, official system to document accidents”, because “evidence for risk factors could then be properly assessed, and used to develop better guidance to reduce attacks.”

We agree. We urgently need a central database where all official bodies record the data they receive about cattle incidents. Only then will we truly understand the scale of the problem and, more importantly, understand what we can do to reduce the risk to walkers.

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How you can help.

If you want to join us, we are looking for new members, particularly people with some experience in using social media or in writing blogs. Please use our Contact Form to get in touch.

If you have been frightened or injured by cattle on a public footpath, don’t forget to report it to us via our reporting tool.

If you want to write a letter to your MP to support our campaign, we provide a template letter here: https://killercows.co.uk/template-for-writing-a-letter-to-the-authorities/

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