cattle – Hinterland

Welsh police solve ‘moo-dunnit’ using DNA test on cow

Ivan Annibal — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 05:06:43 +0000

Sometimes headlines just suggest themselves! This story tells us:

Police in rural south-west Wales have used DNA profiling to solve the mystery of a missing cow.

Dyfed-Powys police say they are the first force in the UK to employ a technique more often used in serious crimes such as murder to reunite a heifer with its owner.

The case – described locally as a “moo-dunnit” – centres on a £3,000 animal that went missing from a field in St Clears on the River Taf in Carmarthenshire. Police were called in and suspicion fell on a neighbouring farmer, David Aeron Owens.

The complainant, who has not been named, pointed out to officers the cow he believed was his. PC Gareth Jones was handed what Owens claimed was the cow’s passport – its identification document.

Unsatisfied, police oversaw the taking of blood samples from the disputed animal, which were compared against samples from cows on the complainant’s farm to prove a familial link. The cow in question was returned home and Owens, 51, pleaded guilty to theft at Swansea crown court this week.

Hundreds of New Forest cows to lose their horns after attacks on dog walkers

Ivan Annibal — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 10:34:01 +0000

This is an interesting story not just because of the challenges these cattle present to walkers but in terms of the light they throw on that strange phenomenon “the commoner”. You’ll find these folks in a number of historic and often upland landscapes and they have a very long tradition stretching right back to the middle ages. The article tells us:

Hundreds of cows in the New Forest will have their horns removed following a series of attacks on dog walkers.

A rise in serious injuries to walkers in the last year, including the reported goring of an 86-year-old woman, has led to the move.

The New Forest Commoners Defence Association (CDA) has been forced to write a letter to the 200 people who are registered to turn cattle out to graze the forest to dehorn their stock.

Tony Hockley, chair of the CDA, said it was because people have “lost any respect” for the dangers of livestock.

Mr Hockey said: “People seem to have lost all connection with the countryside and any healthy respect for large livestock.

Peak District farmer forced to give up Highland Cattle after one dog walker complaint

Ivan Annibal — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:04:12 +0000

This is a sad story – it seems to me that too often we allow anonymity to trump responsibility. It tells us:

A Peak District farmer has been forced to give up his “gentle” highland cattle after a single dog walker complained that they felt unsafe around the herd.

Alex Birch, 32, has roamed his 27-strong herd on Baslow Edge in the Peak District for 40 years, ever since his grandfather David Thorp first introduced them to the land as a young man.

Walkers in the national park regularly encountered the red-haired cattle, described as “the most photographed cows in the world”, as they grazed on the bracken.

They were even the face of BBC Look North’s weather programme.

But ramblers cannot find the animals on Baslow Edge anymore, as Mr Birch has been forced to sell and slaughter his cattle following a complaint to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) from an anonymous dog walker.

The complaint stressed concern after a walker claimed that one of the highland cows attempted to attack their dog.

A petition, which has branded the HSE’s decisions as a “knee-jerk reaction”, has now been signed by more than 8,000 in support of the farmer who owned the herd which was removed from the 300-acre plot of land in January.

The signatories are also calling for the return of the highland cattle to this area of the Peak District, which was visited by walkers and photographers in search of the furry animals, and even described as “landmarks” by some.