Farmers should have right to ban dog walkers to stop cow trampling deaths

FARMERS should be allowed to ban dogs from public footpaths on their land to prevent cow tramplings, a coroner has said. Kevin Mcloughlin called for action after an inquest into the death of Michael Holmes, who was trampled to death by cattle while on a walk in Netherton, West Yorkshire, on Sept 29, 2020.

The 57-year-old’s wife, Teresa Holmes, also suffered serious injuries and is in a wheelchair following the incident. The couple had been walking their daughter’s two whippet dogs, which were both on leads, when they were charged at by a herd of between 25 to 30 cows and their calves. An inquest at Wakefield Civil and Family Justice Centre previously heard that they followed a public footpath up a steep hill but were unaware that the cows were at the top of the slope.

Yesterday, the inquest jury delivered a conclusion of accidental death and said it was “unclear” why the cows had attacked Mr and Mrs Holmes.

Mr Mcloughlin, the senior coroner, said he would be making a prevention of future deaths report after hearing the “alarming” statistics on cow trampling fatalities.

An average of six people a year are killed by cattle in the UK, including farm workers and members of the public, but this rose to 11 in the year to March 2021. Mr Mcloughlin said one solution could be to allow landowners to apply to their local council for the right to temporarily ban dogs on footpaths when cattle are grazing with young calves.

He said: “It seems there is a correlation between cows with young calves and dogs in such instances. The lesson that might be drawn is cows with calves do not mix well with dogs.”

Mr Mcloughlin said the rights of dog walkers must not be restricted unnecessarily, but that “high incidents of fatalities indicate to me a need to identify and tackle the problem”.