Welsh farmer’s fury after walkers leave gates open

Welsh farmer and NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader has been left to recover the fallout from reckless walkers who forced their way through a closed farm gate, allowing dairy cattle to escape and become trapped in a bog.

After receiving a call on Monday 29 August, Ms Reader discovered that walkers had entered a field, using wire cutters to remove barbed wire and brambles – all for the sake of a barbecue.

Consequently, a herd of 120 dairy cows escaped into neighbouring woodland, three of which became stuck in swamp-like mud.

See also: Escaped stock – who is liable for damage to property and people?

“They were stuck right up to their stomachs – they were exhausted, and properly wedged,” Ms Reader told Farmers Weekly.

“You always wonder how on earth they have gotten in there, or whether they were chased by dogs.

“It was difficult not to sink into the depths of complete despair looking at [the cows] in that bog, and thinking how are we going to get them any help.”

Neighbours help

Ms Reader called upon two neighbouring farmers, who brought chainsaws, telehandlers, loaders, and manpower, making up a team of nine people to try to free the cows.

The cows were each administered painkillers and doused with fly spray, but the five-hour ordeal left them tired and distressed, and barely able to stand when being hoisted.

Ms Reader said: “By the time we got to the last one, she was absolutely exhausted – we had to put her in a full body sling and drag her using a Land Rover winch over the bog.”

© Abi Reader

Although all cows were successfully found and rescued, the consequences of their ordeal are ongoing.

One had only calved a day prior, so was already in a delicate state having had twins. Another of the three had been too exhausted to make its way into the parlour for milking, and the third is currently in-calf.

Ms Reader said the incident at her farm in Glamorganshire lost her money and valuable hours.

Reported to police

She has reported it to South Wales Police and urged other farmers to do the same for similar incidents.

“If you log nine people, at five hours, on, say £15/hour, that’s a lot of money in itself. Then you have to add in the diesel, as someone had to bring their machine from the next parish.

“Then there’s petrol for the chainsaws, and medicine for the cattle, the knock-on effect of a drop in milk yield, and potential loss of calf, so you’re easily looking at a figure in the thousands.”

Both the field and woodland are privately owned, and neither contain a public footpath.

“It’s a reminder to everybody that there is a reason that we don’t have a right to roam, and there’s a reason that we have fences and gates – it’s to keep animals, and people, safe,” she added.

“These are our shopfloors – it’s not a playground, and they can be dangerous places. When things go wrong, you can cause a lot of distress to animals.”