Cows are the deadliest animal in the UK, attacking between three and four thousand people each year. An expert has revealed that this number could continue to rise. More than 30 people were killed by cows between 2018 and 2022, according to the UK government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The news comes after a woman was trampled and died by a herd of cows in Wales on September 1. Experts have previously called for new laws to protect the public from ‘killer cows’ and lamented an increase in aggressive cattle behaviour. David Clarke of Cattle on Walkers Safety (COWS) told a news portal: “Death figures vary from year to year and there are often peaks, a few years ago there were three deaths in a short period of months. The deaths can be differentiated between farmers and citizens, with typically three times more farmers killed than citizens”.
In the long term, there are around five deaths a year. With such a low number, any increase is significant. It seems to be trending upwards. It is also important to remember that the deaths are just the extreme result of many attacks/incidents. It is said to be three to four thousand a year, the official further stated. The outcomes range from lucky escapes, trauma, minor injuries and increasingly serious injuries to death.
About 35% of incidents result in injury, it is just a matter of luck and circumstance. According to a recent HSE paper, 25% of farmers are injured by their livestock each year.
A man was killed and his wife left paralysed when they were trampled by a herd of cows, while walking their daughter’s whippets in September 2020. Micheal Holmes, 57, was pronounced dead at the scene while his wife Teresa was airlifted to hospital. The couple were attacked after being trampled 20ft from the end of the footpath in a public right of way.
Micheal suffered 35 broken ribs and his pericardium was shredded. A pathologist found the injuries in his chest alone were not survivable. Teresa, who was rendered unconscious in the incident, suffered injuries including spinal fractures, spinal cord injuries and broken ribs.
In another incident, pensioner Huw Evans was attacked and killed by a cow that escaped from the Whitland Mart livestock market in Carmarthenshire, Wales. He was injured in the city centre on November 19 last year and was airlifted to hospital, where he sadly died six days later.
In a statement, his family said: “Huw was a beloved father, brother, uncle and friend to many. We would like to thank the community for their support and well wishes whilst Huw was in hospital and since his death. We now know how much he will be missed.
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