Cow Attacks Man At Amish Farm

Have you heard of cows attacking humans before? Bulls, sure, but run-of-the-mill dairy cows? Well, this happened yesterday in central PA:

ELIMSPORT — A man, believed to be in his 70s, was recovering from injuries he suffered Monday afternoon when a dairy cow — weighing at least 1,000 pounds — suddenly attacked him and momentarily pinned him against a wall in a barn at an Amish farm along Route 44, according to Elimsport Fire Chief Brett Ulrich.

“He (the victim) and his granddaughter were delivering a dairy cow to a farmer. For some unknown reason, the cow turned on him,” Ulrich said.

Holstein cow
Image: egrego2/flickr

Not sure if this gentleman is Amish, but sounds like maybe not. The Amish owner of the property and others were there to help:

The farmer and members of his family immediately came to the victim’s aid moments after the attack. The victim was taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville.

“This is certainly not our first call involving a cow attacking someone. It’s par for the course. Working with farm animals is not without its risks,” Winder said.

Would you be surprised if I told you that cows cattle kill more people each year than sharks? It’s about 20 per year vs. 5 for sharks.

It kind of makes sense, when you consider how many cows there are in the country, and how frequently people come in contact with them, compared to sharks.

Sounds like this was one cow drop-off this man won’t forget. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

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    25 Comments

    1. Joe

      Cows can be dangerous

      When I was a boy my family used to visit a Vermont dairy farmer. The farmer always warned me about cows and how they could be unpredictable. He told me to never enter a pasture where cows were grazing. He would let me watch the milking, but warned me to stay away from the cows. I took his warnings to heart and never had a problem.

    2. LAUREL MCGILVERY

      All farm animals can be dangerous

      I’ve had cows attack. But for the record, that picture is a beef cow, which, IMHO, are more prone to attack as they are not handled daily like dairy cows. But one needs to watch out around all farm animals as even the sweetest animal can have a bad day.

      1. I first tried to find a photo of a Holstein…but couldn’t locate one with an angry look as good as this one;)

        1. Cathie segal

          Milk or beef

          That mean looking critter doesn’t look like a diary cow. Diary cows are cute. Lol

    3. Leslie Harris

      A-moo-zing article

      Glad no one was seriously hurt, but as they say:

      “To Err is Human; to Forgive, Bovine”

      1. It’s always butter to forgive!

        Ok, you win;)

    4. C Dale Bannon

      Cow Attack

      Wow, a Mad Cow!!!
      Hope it is not a disease.

      1. Ha, yes exactly what we don’t need right now.

        I wonder how many people get the reference. I checked out of curiosity. It was early 2000s when mad cow was last in the news in a big way. Time flies.

    5. edward buonopane

      I believe the cow pictured is a beef cow (Hereford), not a dairy cow.

      1. Lynda

        This looks like a Hereford; which are a common beef cow. Perhaps this photo was not the actual culprit?

        1. No, it’s a different cow’s photo chosen for its angry look. The post is about this dairy cow incident, but also about statistics on deaths from cattle in general, which includes all types (dairy, beef, etc). Sometimes photos don’t perfectly match content. Unfortunately I didn’t come across a good angry-looking Holstein or Jersey pic, which would have been great.

          I added a caption to the photo to clarify it’s not a dairy cow (which should be visible since yesterday, unless the site’s caching system is not showing you that update, which means I need to look into it).

    6. Geo

      Horns

      Ho Lee Cow! Cows more dangerous than sharks? JAWS was just one really big angry shark, whereas there are lots of really big angry cows. I’m thinkin there’s a market for a blockbuster movie called something like HORNS OF A DILEMMA or maybe UDDERLY RIDICULOUS!

    7. rochelle

      cow got me

      our beef cows usually did not bother us when we went in the pasture
      my sister has a “pet” cow
      that heffer got me up against the barbed wire fence rubbing her head lifting me uo and down on the barbs
      she wanted a head rub
      one other time the cows stampeded toward us for no reason we jumped out of the way
      really to this day i like cows on my plate but not as a pet

    8. Mary Harrison

      Cow attacks man

      No mention was made about how the cow was treated before the attack. Was she scared? Did someone hurt her during the transfer? Some Amish have no regard for an animal’s feelings.

      1. Anthony G

        Animal treatment human treatment

        There may be Amish that mistreat animals but how many other Americans mistreat their own sons with circumcision???

        1. Geo

          Ouch

          Yes, that would explain a lot of grouchy guys.

          1. I didn’t expect this thread to go in THAT direction…but I’m also not going to pretend I didn’t just laugh

    9. Walter Boomsma

      Carry a short stick...

      I’ve been told that it’s a good idea to carry a short stick when handling livestock in a confined space… if the animal starts to crowd you against the wall, you place the stick one end against the wall, the other against the animal. It’s not so much that it keeps it away, it just makes the pressing extremely uncomfortable. Now bulls…

      1. Sounds simple and brilliant. From what I’ve read, a good amount of fatalities happen when handling them in enclosed spaces. I wonder how many lives that trick has saved.

    10. Daniel

      Cows attack

      Born and raised in Spain. When my father took us to the country side you had to be careful with the cows, they can be territorial and go against you. I know what you are thinking, and the answer is NO, I didn’t fight them, not all the Spaniards are bullfighters 🙂

      1. Not all bullfighters? Daniel you just ruined my image of Spaniards!;) I attended a bullfight once, in Mexico. Can’t say I’d want to go again, but it was an experience.

    11. Vivian Furbay

      My grandparents had two mild cows when i was a kid. Grandma asked us to go brink them in one afternoon for milking. She said one was onry and to take a stick. We did as this cow wanted to go her own way. Thank god, neither of us got hurt!

      1. I do appreciate grandma’s confidence in you. I guess a stick well used should do the trick.

        I just came across this post giving tips on deterring cow attacks, it seems like the author is well informed: https://www.liveabout.com/survive-an-aggressive-cow-attack-3157520

        Here was the part on using a stick (or in this case, a hiking pole):

        “If an aggressive cow does charge you, use your trekking poles as a weapon, and hit the animal directly on the nose to deter it. Be quick and precise with your hit. Don’t wave poles wildly, as the motion may further aggravate an aggressive cow.”

    12. Terry from Wisconsin

      The Mrs is a farm girl and yesterday when her older sister was visiting we talked about this. When you get a bunch of farm kids together the stories are endless. We agreed that it’s more to talk to someone that knows what you’re talking about when it comes to life with cows. They all have personalities and some aren’t so fun to deal with!

      A lady from my hometown area in W Wisc was killed by her bull. Her husband had been killed in a tractor accident and she kept farming. The neighbors did her field work. Her two daughters were in college at the time, so she worked in the barn alone. The cows hadn’t come home for the evening milking, so she went to get them and the bull ran with the cows. The cows came home but she didn’t. In the morning the milk hauler came and here stands the cows in the barn waiting to be fed and milked. Next comes panic for the milk hauler. A sad day for the family and the community.

      Farming has always been a dangerous occupation. I’m going to stop there because I’m out of time but not stories! Erik, you know how I like to ramble on at times! Ha!

      As Maudie says in the Budget; Make it a good day!

      1. Boy that’s a sad story. Thanks for sharing it though Terry. Always welcome here. Farms do present dangers and not just from the animals.

        Maudie says it well.