A cow which escaped from its owner’s farm in west London was rammed twice by police cars in an attempt to arrest it. The Minister of the Interior demanded an “explanation” and the police officer who drove the vehicle was suspended from his field missions for the moment.
An animal neutralized at the cost of an operation which shocked the general public and even the British government. A young cow which was wandering in the suburbs of London after escaping from its owners’ farm was hit twice by a police car who were trying to arrest it on Friday June 14, report several British media including Metro and Sky News.
The events took place in Staines-upon-Thames. In a video relayed on X (formerly Twitter), we see the cow, aged 10 months and named Beau Lucy, trotting while surrounded by at least two police cars.
Suddenly, we see one of them rushing at him from behind. The impact is violent and the cow collapses as the car moves backwards. As the animal tries to stand up, the vehicle rushes towards it again and it finds itself stuck under the bumper.
“The officer who drove the police car has been removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations,” a Surrey County Police official was quoted as saying by Sky News.
The Minister of the Interior asks for an “explanation”
British Interior Minister James Cleverley reacted to this video on social networks by criticizing the action of the police forces in his charge.
“I see no reasonable necessity for this action. I have requested a full and urgent explanation on this subject”, we can read in a message published on that it is “necessary”.
“The decision to use the police car was only taken after other methods of stopping the cow had failed,” said Surrey County Chief Inspector Sam Adock, the person responsible for of the police in the area where the events took place.
Fear of death caused by stress
Speaking to Metro, the farm owner’s partner claimed that the cow did not suffer a fracture but was “very agitated” and “scared” when she finally returned to the farm. She says she is afraid that the animal will die from post-traumatic stress and describes the images of the police intervention as “horrible”
“It looks like they tried to kill her,” she told Sky News.
“Honestly, when I saw the video, I thought (the police officer who was driving) should lose his job. I found it sickening, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. declared.
The spokesperson for the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals described the video as “upsetting and distressing” and said the police action “seems disproportionate to the situation”.
