Home secretary calls for explanation after police car rams escaped cow in Staines
Warning: This article contains details that some people may find distressing.
The Home secretary has asked for an 'urgent explanation' after footage posted online showed an escaped cow being rammed by a Surrey Police car.
In the video, the vehicle speeds up and rams into the cow on a residential street in Staines-Upon-Thames.
The cow gets up, only to be rammed a second time. It then remains on the ground, and officers get out to assess the situation.
Officers later said that the cow sustained a large cut to its leg and was being treated after the incident on on Thursday night.
James Cleverly said it seemed “unnecessarily heavy handed” while wildlife presenter and conservationist Chris Packham asked: “What sort of monster rams a calf?”
Surrey Police have released a statement, and said the officers were concerned for the public's safety after receiving a number of calls and reports of the cow running at people.
It added that they had attempted to capture the cow safely for a "number of hours."
The force said: "Yesterday evening (14 June), at around 8:55pm, we received reports that a cow was running loose in Staines-Upon-Thames. The cow was running loose throughout the evening on a number of main roads and during this time, we received numerous calls from the public reporting a car being damaged and it running at members of the public.
"Given these reports, 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 person who shared the video on social media said that the incident took place in Feltham, in the west London suburbs, although police said it was in Staines, a few miles to the west.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr 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."
Surrey Police said the matter had been referred to its Professional Standards Department. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has also been notified and a voluntary referral will be made in due course, the spokesman added.
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. Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said: "I know that this has caused distress and I'd like to thank the community for their concern. "The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed. "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. "I know there are videos circulating of this incident, which the public may find distressing. "I would ask that these videos are sent directly to us to help with our investigation."
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