The last two years have seen an unprecedented rise in incidents of cow trampling in the UK.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have recorded that in the year 2020-21 eleven people were killed by cows, and 31 sustained non-fatal injuries.

But the HSE’s statistics are not telling the full story.

A campaign group called ‘Killer Cows’ has collated a substantial body of data on the subject.

In the last six years the group has collected 580 reports of cow attacks, with 562 of them occurring on public footpaths.

Cows generally exhibit benign bovine behaviour, but this is not always the case.

When walkers encounter cattle in a field the latter’s behaviour can be very different.

At best they can be curious and move towards walkers simply to find out more (they will usually have their noses stuck out in front of them in this scenario); at worst they can be aggressive and potentially dangerous (with their ears up at ‘ten to two’ in a classic threat posture).

A mature cow can weigh up to a tonne, and over a short distance can run at a staggeringly fast speed of 25mph.

You cannot outrun a cow, and the National Farmers’ Union and the Ramblers charity give the following advice: if you are walking with a dog and a cow, or cows, has started to show signs of aggression, let the dog off its lead so that it can run away and divert the cow away from you (it is likely that the cow is objecting to the dog more than you, and your dog will be able to run faster than you can).

This is the only situation in which the Countryside Code advises that a dog should be let off their lead around livestock.

A significant number of trampling incidents do not involve a dog, and further useful advice includes:

•Take the best route and avoid a footpath with cattle on, or near, it if at all possible. If you have to enter the field, stick to the fence line even if the path takes you through the middle.

•Never pet calves.

•Ensure that the cattle see you and don’t surprise them.

•Don’t panic and run if you feel threatened – just walk on quietly and try to keep your body facing the cattle.

•Carry a whistle, which will startle the herd and may buy you extra time to find an escape route (plus it will alert fellow walkers to your plight).

Cattle attacks are rare, and they definitely shouldn’t deter people from enjoying the countryside, but the public need to be fully aware of the threat.

The number of people walking for leisure has increased since the Covid lockdowns, according to the Ramblers charity.

Added to this, dog ownership has also increased with ‘pandemic puppies’ and is estimated to have gone from nine million dogs in the UK in 2019 to 12.5 million in 2021.

The Isle of Man has followed this trend of increased dog ownership, and is blessed with hundreds of miles of amazing footpaths

Many are on open farmland and whilst farmers do their best to put up warning signs to indicate the presence of livestock, this is not always the case. Nor will the signs explicitly say ‘warning of death from cows’.