Police run over calf - reasonable?

Police run over calf - reasonable?

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Discussion

TwigtheWonderkid

44,766 posts

158 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
It's a small calf.
It may be a small calf in reality, in the countryside, but to a Londoner like me, used to seeing cats and dogs, that's a fking big animal running around loose. I wouldn't want it running into a member of my family.

cuprabob

15,761 posts

222 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
Greendubber said:
cuprabob said:
Surely they could have got a vet with a tranquilliser gun to take of it.
Devils advocate - How many of them are available at short notice and were able to get to the scene? Do we know that no efforts were made to track one down?
You make a valid point.


SmoothCriminal

5,312 posts

207 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
Pica-Pica said:
It was not ‘run’ over. Although a calf, it was still a sizeable beast. It was knocked down to contain it. All the other nonsense about herding it or calling a vet, is just that, nonsense. When cattle run amok, they can easily trample people to death.

Edited by Pica-Pica on Saturday 15th June 16:52
Errr have you actually seen the video.

They rammed it.

The animal went flying.

They then hit it again and trapped it's head under the engine bay.

Zero need to do any of that, it was hardly the middle of the day or rush hour.

mac96

4,477 posts

151 months

Saturday 15th June
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Somewhatfoolish said:
Mammasaid said:
WTAF???

More killed by dogs than cows, and a 6 month calf isn't the same as a field of cows with calves at foot.
Are you sure? That's very surprising. I'd far rather be with 20 random dogs than 20 random cattle.

But I agree that one calf doesn't seem to justify this. I was trying to be balanced in the OP but may have overdone it...
Far more interactions between dogs and people than between cows and people. I wouldn't be at all surprised if cows are more dangerous per interaction.
Nevertheless it seems very odd they couldn't deal with this more humanely.

ATG

21,403 posts

280 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
I have seen some stupid things in my time, but that's up there.

General Price

5,484 posts

191 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
768 said:
Absolutely mental.

That the considered defence in the cold light of day is that they spent hours failing in other ways first is pretty farcical.
Shame it wasn't filmed from start to finish,bet it would have made Laurel and Hardy look like serious actors.

popeyewhite

21,502 posts

128 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
Sarge Sarge what'll we we do there's a strange black thing running amok
Black?
Yes Sarge
Are you in your car?

TwigtheWonderkid

44,766 posts

158 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
SmoothCriminal said:
Zero need to do any of that, it was hardly the middle of the day or rush hour.
It's West London mate, not rural Shropshire. There are people milling around, out and about, all the time.

I'm a pretty vocal critic of the Met, but they're stuck between a rock and a hard place here. If they hadn't done what did, and 30 seconds later the animal runs into a mum with a kid in a pushchair, it would be "why didn't they mow the bloody thing down when they had a chance".

The policy are there to protect the public. They protected the public. If the RSPCA had run it over, you might have more of a point.

popeyewhite

21,502 posts

128 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
popeyewhite said:
It's a small calf.
It may be a small calf in reality, in the countryside, but to a Londoner like me, used to seeing cats and dogs, that's a fking big animal running around loose. I wouldn't want it running into a member of my family.
OK, then why were the two much larger cavalry horses treated with sympathy and compassion when the potential damage they could do was many times greater?

KTMsm

27,749 posts

271 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
It's a cow - it's going to be killed regardless

If I have the choice of being hit by a cow, whether I'm on foot, bike or car - frankly I'd rather it was killed

If you don't want your cow hurt - keep it in your field

If they hadn't stopped it and it had knocked you off your bike, possibly into the path of a car or you into a pedestrian then you'd all be saying they should have stopped it earlier

CoolHands

19,517 posts

203 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
Love to see how the experts on this thread (can always rely on ph) would have contained it and led it peacefully back to a nearby field. I’m sure it was most cooperative


E63eeeeee...

4,612 posts

57 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
popeyewhite said:
It's a small calf.
It may be a small calf in reality, in the countryside, but to a Londoner like me, used to seeing cats and dogs, that's a fking big animal running around loose. I wouldn't want it running into a member of my family.
OK, then why were the two much larger cavalry horses treated with sympathy and compassion when the potential damage they could do was many times greater?
Iirc, because they were stopped by other means. Shooting them or hitting them with a vehicle were probably on the list of options though. That said, hitting one with a bus didn't seem to stop it, so maybe a different calculation too.

TwigtheWonderkid

44,766 posts

158 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
popeyewhite said:
It's a small calf.
It may be a small calf in reality, in the countryside, but to a Londoner like me, used to seeing cats and dogs, that's a fking big animal running around loose. I wouldn't want it running into a member of my family.
OK, then why were the two much larger cavalry horses treated with sympathy and compassion when the potential damage they could do was many times greater?
Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?

Somewhatfoolish

Original Poster:

4,663 posts

194 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?
Not convinced about that. Pretty sure I could take one out with a police Range Rover or X5 or whatever without risking injuring myself or members of the public. Basically by sideswiping it in a safe location.

popeyewhite

21,502 posts

128 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
Love to see how the experts on this thread (can always rely on ph) would have contained it and led it peacefully back to a nearby field. I’m sure it was most cooperative
You don't need to be a 'expert' in anything to get three people to surround a scared animal and let it calm down. What's happened to people that they are so helpless?



popeyewhite

21,502 posts

128 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Because hitting a fully grown horse with a car is possibly going to result in serious injury to the driver. So it's not really an option, is it?
Dur, they didn't want to injure the horse.

The point is that the safety of the horses was the primary concern, so why in this instance did the police get all Rambo?

Patio

659 posts

19 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
Absolutely disgusting

There was enough plod there to circle it/block it in

Horrific

CoolHands

19,517 posts

203 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
You don't need to be a 'expert' in anything to get three people to surround a scared animal and let it calm down. What's happened to people that they are so helpless?
that has to be a wind up

TwigtheWonderkid

44,766 posts

158 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
Dur, they didn't want to injure the horse.

The point is that the safety of the horses was the primary concern, so why in this instance did the police get all Rambo?
Crap. The safety of the public was the primary concern. And the safety of the officers involved. Ffs, it's ludicrous to think otherwise. You think the instruction was "don't hurt the horses, no matter what. If that means people dying, so be it." rolleyes

TwigtheWonderkid

44,766 posts

158 months

Saturday 15th June
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
popeyewhite said:
You don't need to be a 'expert' in anything to get three people to surround a scared animal and let it calm down. What's happened to people that they are so helpless?
that has to be a wind up
Ludicrous, isn't it.

"Someone should have done something. Stood in its way, calmed it down. Not me obviously, I'm sitting in my armchair arguing on a forum, but someone else".