Yahoo News Anger at Surrey Police caught on camera twice ramming and injuring an escaped cow
There has been widespread outrage at Surrey Police after a crew in a car were caught on camera twice ramming an escaped cow and leaving it rolling on the ground injured. The gut-wrenching footage shows the cop car slamming into the small cow which had been running loose in Staines-upon-Thames.
The video has also caught the attention of wildlife television presenter and conservationist Chris Packham, who described the animal as a "calf" and led the cry for an investigation. He was so shocked, he said: "I don't even know where to start with this one".
Surrey Police said earlier the cow had "run into a number of main roads caused traffic disruption within the local area" yesterday at just before 9pm. Video shared on the social media site Twitter, now known as X, shows the cow walking from a pavement and onto the middle of a road in Feltham.
People can be heard laughing as the little animal wanders slowly down the road, and a police car is parked up a little further down, at right angles to the road. The cow is shunted several metres along the road by another police vehicle and can be seen with its head up, writhing and struggling to get to its feet.
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Gasps and shouts can be heard from onlookers, as the police car is again driven at the cow. This second impact appears to leave the cow's head and part of its upper body wedged under the front of the car.
People from the street and homes are heard yelling to the police "woahhh, woahhhh" and someone swore, shouting "what was that?!" At least two police officers can be seen getting out of the car, walking to the front, and other officers join them.
People on social media have vented their anger, and there are many comments SurreyLive can not use. But one said "that is vile, not running the cow over once but twice" and another "I haven't seen a video that's made me this angry in a long time".
SurreyLive has contacted Surrey Police. But it has this afternoon issued a fresh statement: Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said: “I know that this has caused distress and I’d like to thank the community for their concern. The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed. There will be an investigation into the actions that led to this, but our focus at all times is on ensuring the safety of the public.
“I know there are videos circulating of this incident, which the public may find distressing. I would ask that these videos are sent directly to us to help with our investigation.”
The force said the cow had been seen by a vet and had only suffered a "large cut to its leg". The owner has been found, it said.
Surrey Police said it had "received numerous calls from the public reporting a car being damaged and it running at members of the public. Given these reports, officers were extremely concerned about the public’s safety, and over a period of a number of hours tried a number of options to safely capture the cow".
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