[devonlad]

I've always believed ( based on what, i don't know) that "dangerous" livestock (particularly bulls) cannot be kept on footpath fields.
Obviously it is terribly sad that this poor chap lost his life. As a keen walker I have developed a keen awareness that any farmers field has the potential to have dangers within it. Sadly we no longer live in a world where personal responsibility is encouraged- or a world where an "accident" ever happens.
There is a bridle path running along the other side of the hedge, the length of our field. since we moved in several years ago we have become used to the occasional rambler missing the sign and climbing over our gate and walking through our field. until this year it has generally only ever been a source of amusement and something we quite happily put right. HOWEVER, we now own a ram- and he is not a friendly ram !!!. A couple of weeks ago i glanced over and saw a chap fending off Arthur with his rucksack. I went haring over and managed to rescue the poor fella. whio promptly began yelling at me and threatening all sorts of repercussions. I'm sure he was a bit shell shocked which explained his total lack of reason. I became responsible for the fact that he had climbed the wrong gate, responsible for the fact that the sign has become overgrown (its not on my land or anything to do with me) responsible for the fact that he couldn't read a map and responsible for the fact that he climbed over a gate that is clearly tied up and padlocked (adjacent to one that is not !) into a field with a large curly horned snorting individual- we did not part on friendly terms.
Despite my being distinclty unimpressed by his stupidity and his language, I would feel far far worse should anyone be hurt by my ram- and I'm not sure in this day and age whether i might even be found to be culpable. last week I took a pot of white paint and wrote on the gate " PRIVATE- NOT BRIDLEPATH" plus I cut back all the growth around the sign to make it more visible to ensure that no-one would go the wrong way. Yesterday afternoon I intercepted someone climbing the gate-how do you ever insure against idiots ?

[jaykay]

You do have to use a bit of common sense.

Daisy and I had three cut-short attempts at a walk yesterday. The first, on a bridleway, was interrupted by a very large Shire-type gelding. He seemed quite friendly over the gate, but I didn't know him and I didn't know how he would feel about us walking through his patch, so we didn't.

Then we tried the next footpath along, but as we came over a rise, there were cows with calves, so we beat a hasty retreat.

Then finally we did get a decent walk along a bridleway but we turned back when we reached a tup field (Leicesters and Rough Fells) - again, they were probably fine but I didn't know how they'd react to the dog and the Roughs are big, and horned.

We could have carried on regardless in all three cases, and added to the 'Darwin award' statistics. But we preferred being sensible and remaining undamaged to walk another day!

[Marches Farmer]

I think the familiarity with humans and natural upbringing thing is a factor.  We used to do  calf-rearing in the lambing sheds through the summer and autumn, taking British Blue X British Friesian heifer calves on with a view to them becoming suckler cows.  They came from a small family dairy farm and were a delight to keep.  Bull calves raised by people will consider them as part of their herd and seek to dominate them as they mature.  The most dangerous animal on the farm is the one you trust the most.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I've always believed ( based on what, i don't know) that "dangerous" livestock (particularly bulls) cannot be kept on footpath fields.
Obviously it is terribly sad that this poor chap lost his life. As a keen walker I have developed a keen awareness that any farmers field has the potential to have dangers within it. Sadly we no longer live in a world where personal responsibility is encouraged- or a world where an "accident" ever happens.
There is a bridle path running along the other side of the hedge, the length of our field. since we moved in several years ago we have become used to the occasional rambler missing the sign and climbing over our gate and walking through our field. until this year it has generally only ever been a source of amusement and something we quite happily put right. HOWEVER, we now own a ram- and he is not a friendly ram !!!. A couple of weeks ago i glanced over and saw a chap fending off Arthur with his rucksack. I went haring over and managed to rescue the poor fella. whio promptly began yelling at me and threatening all sorts of repercussions. I'm sure he was a bit shell shocked which explained his total lack of reason. I became responsible for the fact that he had climbed the wrong gate, responsible for the fact that the sign has become overgrown (its not on my land or anything to do with me) responsible for the fact that he couldn't read a map and responsible for the fact that he climbed over a gate that is clearly tied up and padlocked (adjacent to one that is not !) into a field with a large curly horned snorting individual- we did not part on friendly terms.
Despite my being distinclty unimpressed by his stupidity and his language, I would feel far far worse should anyone be hurt by my ram- and I'm not sure in this day and age whether i might even be found to be culpable. last week I took a pot of white paint and wrote on the gate " PRIVATE- NOT BRIDLEPATH" plus I cut back all the growth around the sign to make it more visible to ensure that no-one would go the wrong way. Yesterday afternoon I intercepted someone climbing the gate-how do you ever insure against idiots ?

 Beef breed bulls accompanied by cows can perfectly legally be in fields with rights of way.


 They can't be alone without cows, and no dairy breed bull is ever allowed in such a field whether alone or not, which is where the criminal prosecution is arising in the post stems from (bull thought to be brown Swiss which is a dairy breed)


Re the walkers, if they shouldn't legally be where they are , ie  off ROW in England and Wales, then liability would probably be limited even if it were a dairy bull, probably civil liability as there's strict liability in civil law for damage or injuries caused by horses or livestock in most circumstances, with the damages reduced potentially by contributory negligence on the part of the walker if it was shown they knew they were where they shouldn't be or where there was a warned about danger.


The issue up here in Scotland is that the access legislation mean pretty much every field is legally accessible by walkers etc, so dairy bulls would I imagine rarely be let out in a field to graze :-(

[Marches Farmer]

Always imagined the people who framed the access legislation having a nice daydream about folks having jolly picnics in a hayfield (irrespective of the fact it's meant to feed stock through the winter).  I consider I first and foremost farm grass - it's what I keep on it and how well I manage it that determines whether the family eats or not.  I wouldn't go into a car factory and sit down for a picnic so ......

[sabrina]

I look at it this way. Farmer is the owner of the land or maybe renting. He then should be able to use this land to suit him. Now if there is a right of way through this land it should be up to the person who decides to walk on this path to check that it is safe to do so. Phone call to check would not be hard, The right to roam should not mean you can go anywhere and if anything happens to you it is not your fault but the farmer. We have the right to swim in the sea but who in their right mind would do this if there is swarms of jellyfish or sharks. Common sense is all that is needed. I have seen bullocks take a fence down and go all because there was a dog in the field. Just as dangerous as nothing will stop them. I had a mare that was so foal proud for the first 2wks that she would attack anything that dared to go near her baby yet people staying at the local B&B climbed the gate to go and see the foal. Only did it once. Now I have the electric fence on all the time with warning signs. People are responsible for their own actions. What farmer can afford not to use his land.