Mother Cow Kills Woman Trying To Put Ear Tag On Calf

[marmar]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cow-kills-woman-missouri_n_60a9464fe4b031354797924a


HARRIS, Mo. (AP) — A rural north-central Missouri woman has died after being attacked by a mother cow.

KTVO-TV reports that 76-year-old Jane Heisey died about 8 a.m. Thursday on a farm near the Sullivan County town of Harris.

Sullivan County Coroner Bob Wyant said Heisey and her husband, Glenn, were in a lot near their house trying to put an ear tag on a newborn calf. The mother cow knocked Heisey to the ground and stepped on her head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

[Devil Child]

1. Rest In Peace Jane Heisey

[Maraya1969]

2. What did they expect the mother to do? idk but I think you should wait until

the newborn is walking around a bit.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Really. What was the hurry?

It doesn't sound like they had the mama cow's confidence. And if so, they should have taken precautions.

[csziggy]

19. Some times the mothers switch babies

I had that happen with two of my mares. They foaled the same night - the only time in over 30 years of breeding horses that happened. I saw both newborn foals when they were still wet and took photos. The next morning after the sun came up, the mares had switched foals. When the vet arrived to do the post natal tests and vaccinations, she did not believe me. We tried to switch the babies back and neither the mares or the fillies would have anything to do with it.

Since the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) had been DNA testing horses for registration for a few decades, I opted to add parentage verification to the tests. I was right - the foals had been switched.

So if the owners are breeding purebreds and need to have accurate records on which calves go to which cows, they have to mark them quickly.

[markie]

4. anyone

that works around animals should understand his... I have seen it and always take precautions... very sad

a mother protecting her babies or a male protecting his flock or herd can be dangerous

[JuJuChen]

5. sorry but one of the well known dangers of the job, tragic.

[EYESORE 9001]

6. One of the first rules of working with farm animals

is not to mess with babies when mama is within striking distance.

[MoonRiver]

7. No sympathy for the cruel human.

Unfortunately the cows will suffer and die for just being themselves.

[Dial H For Hero]

9. My reaction is certainly one of sympathy towards her and her family.

That your reaction to an elderly woman having her head crushed is to shrug and say "no loss" doesn't speak well of you.

Unfortunately the cows will suffer and die for just being themselves.

It's actually fortunate that food animals die, otherwise meat wouldn't be readily available.

[MoonRiver]

17. You would be much better off, physically, if you stopped eating red meat.

I work everyday to end the meat industry, in case you are interested in where I'm coming from.

[Hortensis]

22. There are many ways of being cruel, and opportunities to indulge.

It's extremely common for people who are very caring and even morally aware toward objects of a worthy group to be very mean or just callously indifferent and amoral toward others labeled as unworthy.

[renate]

26. Thank you for what you do!

I've been a vegetarian for 30 years and I still really miss meat, but not enough to contribute to the murder of an innocent, sentient animal. Sure, meat tastes good, but it's the flesh of a once-living, feeling being that in all likelihood had a crappy life and died in terror. I'm willing to make a sacrifice in order to not be a part of that.

[MoonRiver]

29. Thank you for that!

I've been vegetarian for coming up on 30 years, and I can honestly say that meat repulses me. It felt like a sacrifice at first, but no more. Cheese has been the hardest thing for me to give up.

[Raine]

30. Vegetarian here too since I was a little kid👍

I HATE any kind of cruelty to animals in particular the disgusting meat industry!

[Demovictory9]

27. plus 1

[Happy Hoosier]

31. I appreciate your point of view

But I do not agree.

Some animals eat other animals. We are such animals. You may choose not to, if you wish, but there is nothing essentially immoral about carnivores and omnivores.

[Kaleva]

32. It seems like a big waste of time doing what you say you do every day.

Can't say I've read about you going on a hunger strike protesting the consumption of meat or handcuffing yourself to the door of a meat packing facility.

People who really believe that an issue is of vital importance risk much. An example is Cindy Sheehan who gave up her job, marriage and friends fighting for what she believed in.

It's most likely just a hobby for you and you enjoy the feeling of feeling morally superior to others and that's ok.

[malaise]

10. That simple

No other words

[stopdiggin]

15. You're right. That is simple. -(nt)-

[liberal_mama]

8. I grew up on a horse breeding farm. It's very dangerous to mess with the babies!

I had a very gentle mare who attacked me when I tried to pet her foal. Some foals are born friendly and will come right to you. Mama horse doesn't like that. You have to take a lot of precautions.

[stopdiggin]

16. yes. suspect these folks were

overconfident in the animal, the situation, and their ability to control. But that is also not uncommon in people that spend time around ... We tend to get a little too casual ...

[csziggy]

20. It certainly can be VERY dangerous!

I once bought a very well bread mare, took her to a top stallion, and waited on the foal. The vet warned me when her time came, to put the mare in a pasture away from other horses, and where we could simply put her feed over the fence and not try to handle mare or foal for at least a month.

The mare's previous foal had health issues. When the same vet had gone in to treat the foal, the mare who was held by one of the owners, got loose and literally took a chunk out of the vet's back.

We took the recommended precautions, but one day while we were admiring the new foal, one of our cats climbed through the fence and sauntered out into the pasture to see what we were looking at. The mare reached down grabbed the cat around the middle of his body, shook him and threw him about 20-30 feet. We freaked out, caught the cat, and took him to the vet, sure that he would have crushed ribs or other devastating injuries.

X-rays showed no damage so, relieved, we took him home. A week later the muscles that had been torn when his hindquarters had flopped around opened up and he had a hernia from hip to hip. Hundreds of dollars later, he was sewn back together and healed nicely - but that cat would never again go into any area where there were horses.

I sold that mare and her foal as soon as it was safe to load them into a trailer. I bred for disposition as well as looks and athletic ability and had no use for a dangerous horse.

Most of my mares were handled from the time they were born here on the farm - and most were born here. Eve so, I was careful around them with their new foals. Most would let me handle and imprint their foals immediately and those were the best behaved horses because of the early imprinting.

[marie999]

11. We raise turkeys and never go near their chicks,

especially when they are guarded by the male.

[Generic Brad]

12. I saw people piercing an infant's ear last night

My wife and I were mall walking and heard the painful shrieks of a baby hurting. And we saw a baby at a kiosk getting her ears pierced.

She looked to be younger than 3 months. If I were a cow, I might have stepped on the parent’s heads too.

[FSogol]

13. That's standard practice for girls in South America. n/t

[Ilsa]

24. South Texas, too. Draw a line

from El Paso to San Antonio to Houston. It's common to hear the screaming at the mall.

[FSogol]

14. Cows Kill More People Than Sharks

You've seen "Jaws." You know sharks can be deadly. But in reality, they don't kill very many people each year.

There are approximately five deaths caused by sharks annually, while horses kill about 20 people a year and cows kill about 22. Crocodiles gobble up 1,000 people a year. By spreading malaria, mosquitos kill hundreds of thousands more people than sharks do every year. Deer also cause hundreds of deaths, mostly by running out in front of cars.

https://www.discovery.com/nature/cows-kill-more-people-than-sharks

[elevator]

23. Year ago I read that swans kill more people every year than poisonous snakes.

People think swans are gentle and will get close. But, swans are aggressive and their bills at the end of their very long necks generate enormous power.

[kskiska]

28. We were threatened by swans a number of years back

at a semi-tropical park in South Carolina when we ventured on a sidewalk that was close to their nesting grounds. They spread their wings and charged at us, making a lot of noise. We backed off.

[FSogol]

34. I knew a kid that had his arm broken by a swan. Their wings can generate

incredible force.

[GulfCoast66]

18. Speaking from long ago experience, working cattle is dangerous work.

Even doing something as simple as vaccinations you really have to watch your back. And I was a good sized 20 year old guy.

They are big and strong and can hurt you even when they are not trying. If they get it into their thick heads to get you then you learn to get over a fence real quick. They are stupid animals, but not as dumb, or dangerous as horses.

I feel bad for the ladies family.

[H2O Man]

21. Indeed, cattle certainly are.

I have plenty of experience working with cows. Mother cows will sometimes attack if one is near to or touching a calf. A Jersey ran at my father, brother, and I once in this situation. (My brother, a professional boxer, hit her on the forehead, knocking her to her front knees. But most people do not have that ability.)

I've been chased by cows and bulls. Got run over by a young bull once, which was rather painful. And when I worked on Dream Street Farms, a friend was in charge of the bull pen, with a number of young bulls in it. Every day, there was one that came after him. Then, one day -- which was literally the day before he was to get married -- while he had his eye on the one, another gored him in the last place a man wants an injury on the eve of his honeymoon. I remember when the ER doctor was closing the door, hearing him say, "You poor bastard."

Also, years ago, a fellow from NYC bought a farm next to my in-laws. He bought "beefalo," which were on the verge of being popular in the 1980s. There isn't a barbed-wire fence that can hold a beefalo that is convinced that the grass is greener on the other side. His beefalo frequently damaged my in-laws' fences, and destroyed crops. It was no easy task to convince these beasts that they would be happier on their owner's land, and likely have a longer life expectancy.

[RegularJam]

25. So sad.

Side note. I wish this 76 yo was comfortably retired and a younger person was doing this job.

[hardluck]

35. It was their family farm

Not sure you really retire from one of those but understand your sentiment.

[brooklynite]

33. Never get between a mother cow and her calf...

My wife and I were once hiking in Britain; the path included travel through local farms. At one point we walked between a cow and a calf; the cow started walking towards us with.....determination. We had to jump through a hedge to get away.

[FakeNoose]

36. Maybe there's a way to tranquilize the mama cow while the baby is tagged

You know, let her smoke a joint or something.