Milking cow shot dead by police 'while trying to escape' Firearms officers from Northumbria Police have shot dead a fugitive cow following an escape attempt by some cattle. Reports came in to the seemingly excessively-equipped police force on Sunday afternoon that three cows – which witnesses thought had escaped from a nearby farm – were moving towards the A1058 Coast Road, a busy …
"A clean shot...." Exactly. As the French found out when their cops tried to stop this panicked cow - https://www.yummypets.com/mag/news/miscfatcs/34007/a-cow-killed-by-70-gun-shots-by-french-police - probably with 9mm service pistols. Note the hysterical tone of the yummypets post - "how dare they kill an animal endangering human beings!" - the insistence that an "anesthetic gun" could be miraculously available to the police involved, that a vet could have attended and somehow sedated the animal without the animal endangering anybody during the wait, etc., etc.
A distressed cow just runs.... fences mean nothing.
About three years back my neighbouring farmer went away for the week end and two of his cows decided to go walkabout (leaving me to try sort it out). The cows were distressed having just been taken away from their calves and moved to a different farm. They broke through 7-wire fences like you would walk through cobwebs, smashed up about 15 fences and ended up many farms and about 7km away.
Once they were settled down though it was easy to drive them home, just walked along behind them giving them a nudge now and then.
Hence the need to get up high.... this wasn't just daisy munching buttercups in the field.
Had one in the garden a few years back. It had done a bunk from a herd moving along the road. I was working from home at the time, and looked up to see cow legging it down the garden pursued by three blokes. Took a few seconds to wonder if there was something in the water and decided the sight was real so kept watching.
The blokes thought they'd got the bovine cornered, but it made a dash for it and hurdled a 3 foot fence+ditch to make it into the field next door. Very impressive.
The need to get high stems from the use of a rifle; bullets can travel for quite some way, and it was an inhabited area (with a busy road close by). In order to avoid any accident, the cops wanted a downward shot. Good on them (the need to dispatch the animal in the first place notwithstanding).
I would not get near a distressed cow if I were you. Ran a D&D campaign once where a drunken dwarf decided to go cow tipping. The cow killed him with a single critical hit kick. His friend then ran over to see what was wrong, they were also dispatched in a single kick.
Do not mess with cows.
I've always (well sometimes)wondered how D&Ders calibrate all their numbers.
Clearly you did not waste time enlighten yourself reading back issues of Dragon magazine, back in the day. Many were the debates over the mad rigors of calculating damage and other figures.
Unfortunately the OP left out much critical information. What was the cow's THAC0? Was it wearing the +1 Cowbell of Accuracy? Did the dwarf fail his Saving Throw against Alerting Livestock? Was he on a stool? (Because, y'know, it's hard to tip a cow from the bottom.)
So they needed to go up high instead of walking close?
When a cow has beef (sorry) with you, best keep out of its way - there is a lot of kinetic energy in a cow that decides to start moving.
They had to shoot it, the steaks* were too high.
(* actually by the late Tommy Cooper who could do that sort of material really well)
This post has been deleted by its author
"So they needed to go up high instead of walking close?....." Ever seen a car that has collided with a cow? I have. I've seen a Ford Sierra that hit a cow at 30mph and it looked like the Sierra had hit a wall. The driver ended up in intensive care. The police had a responsibility to protect the public first, the property (the cow) second. Especially considering that, on the nearbye A road, a car is probably going to be doing more than 30mph (indeed, having driven in the Newcastle area, I'd be surprised if they were doing less than 60mph). And that the sudden deceleration of the first accident with the cow could cause further accidents and a pile-up. So the last thing the officers (who probably had zero farming knowledge but a lot of traffic knowledge) would want to do would be to risk approaching the animal and scaring it into running into the road. So, if they have taken the decision to kill the cow rather than risk waiting for the farmer, the next logical step is how to kill it without spooking it into traffic, which means from a distance and from a good vantage point. Good tactical appreciation, lousy farming knowledge. But then I don't expect city cops to be trained on herding cattle and I do expect them to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the public.
The report says the cow was in a field an not moving so there wasn't really any need to just shoot it. They really should have either waited and only shot if it made a break for it or better still used a tranquilizer gun.
While it's not really a big deal it does worry me how eager the police are to shoot things these days and make a minor incident into something bigger. It used to be that one of the key skills of the police was to take diffuse situations.
"The report says the cow was in a field an not moving...." Lost cows will often pause, even stop to graze, that doesn't mean they will not then carry on somewhere else like the local highway. There was an incident not too long ago in Darlington that even had a vid on the Beeb News site, where a cow escaped a market and went on a two hour rampage, including numerous stops to graze in front gardens and a park. The cops eventually shot it when it started charging and damaging cars near a school.
"......They really should have either waited and only shot if it made a break for it...." So, pass up the option for a standing target for the chance they could get a killing shot on a moving target? You've obviously never hunted before or you'd be laughing as hard as I am at that farcical statement. Ever try a spine shot on a fast-moving herbivore going away from you because that is the only shot guaranteed to instantly drop a large animal? Deer, which are smaller than cattle, will often run hundreds of yards even after taking fatal lung or heart shots from purpose-built hunting rifles. A wounded cow would be even more likely to panic into traffic.
".....or better still used a tranquilizer gun....." Which cop cars do not carry, neither do UK armed response teams. While we're wishing for imaginary police equipment, why didn't you insist they pull out their instantly-inflatable corral?
"....While it's not really a big deal it does worry me how eager the police are to shoot things these days....." Which shows you also did as little research as Roo. Please go look at the Beeb articles I linked to in my reply to his ignorance.
I see that England has gone all American -- you 'protect' the public by shooting things (often the very public that you're supposed to be protecting). An armed response should be a last resort, not the first response.
Cows can be dangerous if you're not used to them but they are like other farm animals, they're used to being moved around by humans. You just have to be aware that they're large, heavy and not very bright.
Last year 2262 cattle-caused injuries were reported in NZ. Even sheep caused 1500 or so injuries.You just can't stop a cow that wants to go in a specific direction. Even a sheep is hard enough.
But still, 20 cops to kill a cow? C'mon one shot with a rifle or shotgun will do it. Even Pom cops should be able to do that!
A week ago when I commented that the UK firearms units (the ones allowed to carry weapons) are as trigger happy as their USA bretheren. I guess it did not take a while for them to provide evidence towards that.
While a distressed cow can be quite dangerous most farmers can and do handle them on a daily basis. Using a firearms unit for the same purposes is a stupid idea (unless you _WANT_ the incident to end up with a BBQ). What's next? Predator drones. Oh, I forgot, the Mancunian police dept nearly bought one a while back (the only thing that prevented it was someone whistleblowing to the press).
> While a distressed cow can be quite dangerous most farmers can and do handle them on a daily basis.
That's because farmers try to avoid terrifying the poor bloody animal with a fucking helicopter.
The stupid in these police is way, way too strong.
.
"A week ago when I commented that the UK firearms units (the ones allowed to carry weapons) are as trigger happy as their USA bretheren."
But luckily we have few firearms equipped units, generally kept on a short leash, and the result is that UK police have shot 23 people dead in 10 years, compared to somewhere between 300 to 600 people US authorities shoot dead every year.
I think many people would agree that outfits like SO19 should have been replaced with Army personnel on permanent deployment to assist the police, but to suggest that our armed police are as bad as the cowboys apparently operating with impunity across the US is simply libellous.
You might want to read this, for a summary of what the Land of the Free enjoy:
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/rising-police-aggression-a-telling-indicator-of-our-societal-decline/
And a search on "militarization of us police" will bring up some juicy detail. My particular favourite was the headline "Obama calls for turret mounted cameras on all police tanks".
"Obama calls for turret mounted cameras on all police tanks"
Brought to you by the Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/article/obama-calls-for-turret-mounted-video-cameras-on-al-37586
Although the rest of your post is on-point and valid, so you can keep your upvote.
but a shotgun isn't going fell a cow.
Do you not have shotgun slugs? If Foster or Brenneke slugs aren't available it's easy enough to melt some wax to bind the shot together. Sure the wax route is a bit crude as it has poorer range and accuracy than a proper slug but it works in a pinch even if it does quickly foul the bore.
You won't need a gun . . . If you shoot Mongo. You'll only make him mad.
Having been a cowboy, and having had to once put a few down, I can tell you that you want to do it execution style and put it in the back of the neck where the spine enters the skull. This will break the atlas vertebrae (the highest one) and cause instant death. They cow will drop like a sack of potatoes and not make so much as a twitch. Only a high power rifle will go through the front of the skull on a bull, while a .22LR will take out the spine.
I had a bull jump the fence and get hit, turned out the people who hit him were on their way to commit a murder. Yes the new pickup looked like it had hit a wall. The bull other than not breathing only had a few ribs looking out of place.
Unless you are chasing a cow, she only wants to be reunited with her baby and her herd.
"Last year 2262 cattle-caused injuries were reported in NZ. Even sheep caused 1500 or so injuries."
No, a cow is not dangerous, unless you're stupid enough to hand over some grass plus your fingers to it , as it's not really clever at making the distinction.
No-one should ever have the need to shoot a cow.
Want it no to walk on your toes ? move away from its path. Want to force it back to the barn ? Use a stick.
End of the problem.
I have wandering cows every single week on my roads, and fortunately, there's no lunatic copper here stupid enough to shoot them, with or without an helicopter.
"Want it no to walk on your toes ? move away from its path. Want to force it back to the barn ? Use a stick."
You don't have to hit them or shout at them. Cows, contrary to popular opinion, are rarely stupid or deaf. Shaking a bag of feed will usually get a Cow's attention, and it'll usually head towards the bag of feed at a rate of knots. Hope they tried that before flying in helicopters and armed policemen because it would have been a lot easier & cheaper.
".....Hope they tried that before flying in helicopters and armed policemen....." Yeah, because a bag of cow feed is standard issue in all city-based cop cars, right? Helicopters and armed police are available when the commanding officer on the ground asks for them, but animal feed is not. Do you want to suggest the coppers should have risked public safety by waiting to find a local pet store that stocked cow feed? Fail!
"Yeah, because a bag of cow feed is standard issue in all city-based cop cars, right"
Firearms aren't standard issue for the Northumbrian plods either, despite your best efforts Matt.
"Do you want to suggest the coppers should have risked public safety by waiting to find a local pet store that stocked cow feed"
That's your lame brain stawman Matt, so no, I wouldn't make such a suggestion. Besides in this instance the Police took the time to summon some firearms officers and try to set up in someone's bedroom before they shot the cow, I reckon they could have collected a farmer from a local farm/called a vet in the same time or quicker.
As for preventing a traffic accident, policemen slow/stop traffic around obstacles all the time... It's not rocket science.
Who needs cow feed? Any market that sells veg will do. I'd start with carrots with the greens on or if it's got a sweet tooth a bag of pears or apples will do fine. I'd wager a few bucks on the fresh veg actually being a better lure than the standard feed they get every single day.
"You just can't stop a cow that wants to go in a specific direction."
Back when I were a 98lb. weakling we had a steer ready for the butcher. Damn thing broke through the chute dragging my dad an me through the snow. The snow was deep, dad weighed about 300lbs, I figured the steer would stop after a few feet. Then dad let go of his rope...
...got 10 feet of snow up my nose before I realized what was happening.
The manager of the Rising Sun Farm, which witnesses thought was the source of the hoofed escapologists, contacted the Chronicle to say that the farm did not own any cows.
Does your cow bite?
No.
OK. HRUUUGH! OW!!! I thought you said your cow does not bite!
"how many of the bluejackets are recycled veterans"
Very few. That's part of the problem IMHO, that the military have discipline and a healthy respect for weapons, along with a general reluctance to use necessary force. The civil police don't all appear to have that same respect for the power of the weapons they carry.
...this is what happens to a car that hits a cow:
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s---GPR4gcN--/17ivyzmgnuz5kjpg.jpg
http://img.bulawayo24.com/articles/993054_553605598020083_317880294_n.jpg
It no joke, someone doing 60 mph and hitting a stationary 1 tonne lump of meat is not going to come off well.
It no joke, someone doing 60 mph and hitting a stationary 1 tonne lump of meat is not going to come off well.
That doesn't explain the 2nd car - that is a sideways impact, not a frontal one. Either the car was going sideways at speed, or the cow was doing 60 mph :)
".....Also in the 1st it looks like the occupants of the car would have survived." Wow, so determined to hate you really did miss a lot from the first pic! Firstly, it's not your average UK hatchback, it's a great big truck! The second is what is called "roll-up" damage, where the cow has been hit in the legs (by the standard height bumpers) and has then collapsed onto the bonnet of the truck, rolling up it and squashing the cab. No, the driver and any front-seat passengers are highly likely not to have survived. Which brings us to the third point, related to the first - if a cow rolls up a truck bonnet which is probably more than a metre high, it will actually directly hit the windscreen of a lower family hatchback or saloon rather than losing momentum rolling up the bonnet - which means more force impacting the passenger cell and probably killing all the vehicle occupants. The second accident could have been caused by the vehicle trying to swerve to avoid the animal, skidding and hitting it side on.
So, try not to hate for a moment and think about the choice the coppers had - wait for the farmer when they have no idea how long he will be (indeed, if he had even been identified); risk scaring the cow into traffic seeing as city cops are not trained on herding distressed cattle; or ensure public safety by killing the cow. Only the latter course guaranteed the desired result, although it also seems to guarantee that clueless haters would immediately seie the opportunity to rant about "trigger-happy filth". How sadly predictable you lot are.
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