A group has suggested farmers install electric fences near footpaths to keep walkers safe from livestock
A website dedicated to supporting ‘victims' of cattle related trauma has called on the farming industry to do more to protect the public.
The founders of Killercows.co.uk (COWS) have issued a series of asks following the publication of the group's new report which revealed that since 2017, when the site was launched, more than 650 walkers have come forward to record their experiences of being injured or frightened by a cow.
Spokesperson for COWS Dr Ruth Livingstone said farmers should be required to erect electric fencing around every field housing livestock that bordered a public path or right of way. She also called on the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which she said had until recently ‘dismissed' the body's concerns, to take the matter more seriously and to develop a formal, centralised reporting service.
Concerns
"We believe electric fencing is the only way to ensure people and livestock will be safe. We have had terrible stories of people being harmed as they try to escape, as well as many near misses," said Dr Livingstone. "The risk may be small but why have one at all? It is very upsetting for farmers to have someone injured by one of their cows."
She acknowledged that the title of the website had been adopted to draw attention but rejected the group was a product of the anti-farming narrative.
"We are not anti-farming in any way," she said. "We are very respectful of their businesses but the public should have the right to walk safely through the countryside. It is a mistake to dismiss these concerns out of hand."
According to the group's findings, the published results represent only ‘the tip of the iceberg'. According to the website, across England and Wales, nine per cent reported being seriously hurt by a cow while almost a quarter said they had suffered minor injuries. Nearly 20 per cent posted that they had required some sort of medical assessment or intervention.
Sophie Gregory, a dairy farmer from Dorset, said that while no farmer wanted to hear of people being injured on their land, the public needed to be aware that fields are also a place of work.
"Farmers are facing enough pressures without being forced to erect fencing. Who will police that? Most farmers already provide signposting and notices regarding livestock.
"As an industry we should welcome people and deliver positive messaging. But this is our workplace. What people have to remember is that without farmers, the countryside would not be there for them to enjoy," she added.
