Police run over calf - reasonable?

[Somewhatfoolish]

Video doing the rounds of police running over a calf, deliberately: https://x.com/ub1ub2/status/1801939257054859521

I appreciate that cows are by far the most dangerous animal in the UK and one running around a street isn't ideal. But even so this seems a bit excessive. Although it's easy to say this in hindsight...

[Somewhatfoolish]

Mammasaid said:

WTAF???

More killed by dogs than cows, and a 6 month calf isn't the same as a field of cows with calves at foot.

Are you sure? That's very surprising. I'd far rather be with 20 random dogs than 20 random cattle.

But I agree that one calf doesn't seem to justify this. I was trying to be balanced in the OP but may have overdone it...

[Somewhatfoolish]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?

Not convinced about that. Pretty sure I could take one out with a police Range Rover or X5 or whatever without risking injuring myself or members of the public. Basically by sideswiping it in a safe location.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Nibbles_bits said:

dickymint said:

Nibbles_bits said:

cuprabob said:

Surely they could have got a vet with a tranquilliser gun to take of it.

You'd need to know how much the calf weighs in order to know how much tranquilliser to use.
Too little and it won't work. Too much and you risk killing it.
You'd also need to know whether it has an health conditions.

And they do all this out in Africa to sedate a wild animal? No they make an educated guess and get the job done!!

"An educated guess" by professionals that sedate wild animals as their day job.
Not 'Rob the vet' from London who has never had to tranquillise a roving cow.

I don't think that, conditional on a tranquilliser gun being found (where? maybe london zoo?) this should be easy enough to get around - just err on the side of too much. There's worse ways of going than a carfentanyl overdose.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Foss62 said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Are you sure? That's very surprising. I'd far rather be with 20 random dogs than 20 random cattle.

Really? Most of us walk through fields containing 20 random cattle fairly regularly with no great drama. Even the commons right in the middle of Cambridge would fit that description (and I’m sure many other places are similar).

Yes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not petrified of walking through Midsummer Common (I mean I don't in practice but that's cause while I'm familiar with and have friends there I live hundreds of miles from Cambridge... but where I do live I walk through fields with cattle in all the time. And in the "even less threatening" axis my house is 20 yards away from a field full of sheep, who I'd take over the dogs).

But I would be marginally safer walking through it with 20 random dogs than a random heard of 20 cows fosho.

Obviously you could fill it full of 20 rabid XL bullies or something but that's distorting the sample somewhat.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Nibbles_bits said:

reddiesel said:

As far as I understand there was absolutely no risk to the public and in my view a vet should have been summoned with the necessary tranquilliser . Too many Apologists prepared to excuse the Plod which solves nothing .

Apart from it running at someone (in the footage) and the police reporting that it had run at people.

It ran at someone who was making a nuisance of himself. The police subsequently ran at him too

[Somewhatfoolish]

Craig_suke said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?

Not convinced about that. Pretty sure I could take one out with a police Range Rover or X5 or whatever without risking injuring myself or members of the public. Basically by sideswiping it in a safe location.

Ofcourse you could….

Anyone with common sense could. I'm not claiming some special prowess. Unless you want to point out a flaw in the plan. I'm positive a sideswipe of a horse with me in a big SUV would not do me any injury.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Craig_suke said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Craig_suke said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?

Not convinced about that. Pretty sure I could take one out with a police Range Rover or X5 or whatever without risking injuring myself or members of the public. Basically by sideswiping it in a safe location.

Ofcourse you could….

Anyone with common sense could. I'm not claiming some special prowess. Unless you want to point out a flaw in the plan. I'm positive a sideswipe of a horse with me in a big SUV would not do me any injury.

Utter rubbish, a horse running at full pelt would be neigh on impossible to hit on those streets and the danger to members of the public would be enormous… absolutely moronic comments…

It'd be going 25mph tops. I am close to certain I could do it - the difficulty would be identifying the safe opportunity but I'm positive one would have arisen somewhere between central london and limehouse which is where from memory they ended up.

(I'm not suggesting this is sensible. I'm just taking issue with the idea it would injure me. It really really wouldn't unless there is something I'm missing that makes controlled sideswiping of a horse with a 3 ton SUV dangerous to the driver).

[Somewhatfoolish]

Oceanrower said:

Greendubber said:

Who else should we have relationships with, just in case we need them?

Of the top of my head;

Glaziers
Boarding companies
Possibly taxi firms
Locksmiths
Breakdown recovery
Doughnut shops
RFDs
Depending on area, marinas/boat hire
Animal rescue
Local caving/climbing groups

I’m sure there are plenty of others. Having a working relationship with them doesn’t mean having them on call 24/7. Just that your control room has their number handy if needed.

Stage Hypnotists.
Pay everyone with access to large databases as CHIS to bypass RIP
People with an extraordinary sense of smell
Balloonists
At least one anorexic
At least one morbidly obese
Someone with an Ulster accent
A juggler
A dental hygeinst
Scooby Doo

[Somewhatfoolish]

DonkeyApple said:

Evanivitch said:

Handling of livestock in slaughterhouses (when they're often pretty damp stressed) is strictly controlled with cameras and approved handling techniques. You'll lose your job pretty quickly if found abusing animals. The idea anyone that handles animals can do as they wish is a joke.

It's also remarkably easy to slam a bolt through a cows head when it is firmly held in position.

The issue here is that one had a large and seemingly startled creature that was moving about near people. People thinking some vet in the early hours is going to be operating at SAS target dispatch levels is in cloud cuckoo land. As are those who think plod should have tried to taser the large animal, putting themselves at risk if they were even able to get remotely close enough. In the absence of the farmer and his people to herd and restrain his own animal the police just did the logical last resort act which was to stop it running about by using a car. Very sad, very unfortunate but no one is to blame bar the owner of the animal and the chance are they did nothing wrong. Shot happens, no one else got hurt and in a spot of good fortune the cow will live a bit longer before a bolt is smashed through the top of its head and its carcass is sliced and diced and on the shelves tout suite.

Quite a lot longer actually. It was apparently destined to be a breeding cow, which coincidentally is presumably the type the farmer will get most compensation fore. You can keep up with the fate of the cow in your favourite tabloid. Her name is Beau Lucy and she's currently single. I'm not making this up.

Edit: There's even a gypsy angle

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Wednesday 19th June 16:12

[Somewhatfoolish]

Am a bit suspicious of the "charging" without further evidence - if you look at videos of it (I appreciate it may not be the actual incident) it's more like an investigative stroll. It may have seemed like charging to a townie unfamiliar with cows but even with the tiny bit of knowledge I have - and I am pretty cowardly with bovines quite honestly, definitely in bottom quartile of braveness - I wouldn't have been bovvered.

[Somewhatfoolish]

What about the Chillingham Wild Cattle? AIUI they're only fed a bit of hay in winter cause there's a bit too many of them otherwise they're left to their own devices (and presumably if not fed the hay would mostly survive)

[Somewhatfoolish]

Flumpo said:

Nibbles_bits said:

dickymint said:

Cold said:

How did they eventually catch this calf? It wasn't caught by hitting it with a 4x4, but by another method. Possibly a bloke with a wide hat and a lasso?

Instead of all this talk about guns, vets and magic bullets why don't they just do whatever they did after the bumper incident?

I have been asking this for days and in particular how long before it was finally captured and what was this mad rampant killer beast doing in the meantime

It is strange how every piece of footage doesn't show how the calf is caught??

I wonder if it's because it was hit that it was captured?

That was shared a few pages back and is so weird I think everyone assumed it was fake news. According to the reports shortly after it was run over, two guys with a trailer turned up offered to take the calf. The police let them take it. The ‘gentlemen’ then proceeded to hold the calf ransom until the owner had to pay them cash for the safe release.

Yup this was my favourite bit (so far - this is the kind of stupid story that even weirder things could happen. See also this election campaign). Perhaps they were the same gentlemen who tried to charge me £20 for car parking this Appleby horse fair. If so, then they are amenable to firm negotiation. Always know you BATNA and all that.

@DonkeyApple I get your point about Chillingham cattle getting a bit of hay but I do believe they'd survive (as a group, even if a lot of them died) without it; think this has been proven on some very harsh winters before?

Do you really need a 7.62 at <50 yards for a cow????

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Friday 21st June 21:31