Udder chaos on busy road as mad cow tramples garda and mart-goers

A COW nearly trampled a garda and three mart-goers after escaping onto a busy road.

“I can’t believe no one was killed,” said a woman onlooker after a garda was dragged along the road by the agitated cow in Ennis.

Three men who tried to corner the cow were also slightly injured before it was finally forced into a field near the Quin Road livestock mart in Clare’s county town.

The woman, who spotted the cow running through the town centre, about a kilometre from the mart, added: “I have never seen anything like that in my life. I thought it was a bull but it goes to show that a cow can be just as dangerous.

“I honestly can’t believe it. The guards were telling people to get out of the way but they tried to stop the cow and got knocked down themselves.”

The incident occurred around 11am yesterday.

The animal was “on the run” for over a kilometre before it was forced back in the direction of the mart. Only after a number of farmers got involved were they finally able to force the cow into a nearby field.

A garda, who had been in the area at the time, attempted to corral the animal.

However, the cow ran the officer down and dragged him along the road. Several members of the public attempted to control the cow however they were also knocked over. The garda and three others sustained only minor injuries and did not require hospitalisation.

Despite repeated warnings from gardaí to members of the public to take cover, some people still attempted to stop the animal.

A local veterinary surgeon was called to the scene but deemed it too dangerous to approach the raging animal.

After the animal was eventually coaxed back to the mart, it was placed in a green area and monitored to see if it would calm down.

At one point, the situation had escalated to such a dangerous point that one farmer could be heard screaming for “a rifle or shotgun”.

A stall owner at the mart said: “It was really wild. The cow ran right in to the lower gate so they closed the other one to make sure it didn’t get back out. She ran wild around the place for a while and I can’t believe she didn’t destroy a few cars or vans. The cow would have been shot if anyone had a rifle.”

During the course of the afternoon, the agitated animal crashed its way through a galvanised gate into another field and by nightfall had travelled almost a kilometre through fields searching for a way out.

The cow walked along a fence which separated the field from the Ennis to Galway railway line as well as by other ditches and walls looking for a gap through which to escape.

Clare’s ISPCA animal welfare officer Frankie Coote attended the scene. “This cow was out of control. This was a serious situation and rogue animals like this can be extremely dangerous.

“Members of the public should never try to approach an agitated animal like this I was shocked to see the people ignored warnings from the guards to get out of the way. People should consider their own safety first, take cover and raise the alarm,” he said.

Mr Coote did not ruled out the possibility that the cow would have to be put down.

The cow was still in a field last night, amid concerns she would escape and cause further chaos.