Key Points
- Footage appeared online shows a young cow in a residential street being hit twice by a police car.
- Police said they tried a number of options to safely capture the cow before deciding to use the police car.
- Authorities said the matter had been referred to the police force’s Professional Standards Department.
British Home Secretary James Cleverly has asked for a “full, urgent explanation” as to why officers appeared to use a police car to ram an escaped cow.
Footage appeared online showing the young cow in a residential street being hit twice by a police car, as a nearby member of the public shouts “what are you doing that for?”.
The cow got to its feet after the first strike, before being hit again by the car a second time.
It then remains on the ground, and officers get out to assess the situation.
Officers later said the cow sustained a large cut to its leg and was being treated.
Surrey Police said the incident happened on Friday evening after it had received reports that a cow was running loose in Staines-upon-Thames.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Cleverly wrote: “I can think of no reasonable need for this action. I’ve asked for a full, urgent explanation for this.
“It appears to be unnecessarily heavy handed.”
Warehouse worker Kai Bennetts, 22, of Feltham in west London said the cow, which looked young, was left with an “open gash” after it was hit by the police car and thrown several metres down the road.
Bennetts, who said he was “disgusted” by what he saw, told the PA news agency: “One of its back right legs had loads of grazes where the skin had come off.”
After the first strike, he said: “It (the cow) tried to get back up, and then they (the police) pushed it back over and blocked it by its neck and top half of his body and so it couldn’t get up.
“Inhumane is all I can say.”
Surrey Police said the cow was running loose throughout the evening on a number of main roads.
The force were responding after being alerted by calls reporting that a car had been damaged and the animal was running at members of the public.
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, the force said.
The police then decided to use the police car to stop the cow.
The force said the matter had been referred to its Professional Standards Department.
Members of the public helped to move the cow to a nearby farm in the early hours of Saturday.
The owner has been located and a vet has looked at the cow’s injuries.
“The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed,” Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said.
“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.”
The RSPCA spokesman said the animal welfare group had contacted police after seeing the “upsetting” and “distressing” footage.
“All animals should be treated with respect. Together we can create a better world for all animals.”
