I was actually about half way done with this column, addressing another topic, but when I discovered the following information, I had to start all over again.
I came across a blog entry while doing a little research that was relaying how dangerous cattle are and how violence carried out by cattle often takes a back seat to shark attacks, and maulings by bears and mountain lions.
The blog goes on to say that attacks by cattle can be “surprisingly well-coordinated,” with one or two cows leading the charge, and despite more people being killed by cattle every year than sharks, there is no special week on television dedicated to the carnage. The writer told of a couple of helpless individuals being attacked in England while walking their dogs through a field of cattle. The cattle were unprovoked in their attacks on the people, who were simply protecting their pets from injury when the cattle went after the dogs.
While instances of cattle causing death or injury are no laughing matter, and experienced cattlemen and woman have been injured or killed by their livestock, the manner in which this writer addressed the subject just proves that most folks these days don’t know much about farming or animals. I don’t know if the writer meant the blog to be comical or if it was meant to actually scare people.
Who could be scared of cattle or other farm animals? You might be surprised.
Many years ago, I had a friend who moved to the Ozarks from a town outside of Chicago. He was scared of anything that moved at my place. One day he came by while I was out feeding; he tagged along, but I could tell he was a little freaked out by it all. When I started to go into the lot where we fattened out calves, he was shocked I was even going to walk into the pen.
“You aren’t going in there with those bulls, are you?” he asked.
When I told him I was going into the lot and that the cattle weren’t bulls, he insisted that they were indeed bulls because they had horns and only bulls have horns, and that I would be killed. I told him I would be just fine and that if there was any problem, I could climb over the corral and escape. The horned “bulls” he was so concerned about were actually Jersey steers that would still take a bottle if offered.
After feeding, I explained the process of how bulls became steers. I think that scared him a little too. I won’t even go into his reaction to loading hogs.
Scare tactics are what many anti-agriculture groups use to turn the public against farmers and ranchers. If they “scare” enough people with threats of chemical-laced fruits and vegetables, milk tainted with hormones, antibiotic-filled meat, GMOs that cause genetic mutations and killer cows, they think farming will just stop farming, saving farm animals and the planet.
What folks should really be scared of is the concept of no farmers, no food. I often wonder if people think of that when they are complaining about agriculture. Plus, who will control all of the killer cows that will be set free by the animal rights folks to roam as “nature intended”?
Looking at the statistics, yes cattle are responsible for about 20 deaths a year. Granted it is more than sharks, bears or alligators combined, but cattle aren’t the most deadly animals out there.
The CDC states that dogs about kill 28 people per year, and other mammals, such as horses, pigs and deer, kill 52 people, not including those killed in auto accidents involving animals.
But the number one killers? Bees, wasps and hornets. The CDC says stings are responsible for 58 deaths each year.
I think I will take my chances with the cattle.
Julie
