Wildlife presenter and conservationist Chris Packham has demanded to know “what sort of monster rams a calf?” after a horrifying video of a Surrey Police car ramming into a cow and sending it flying went viral. The 26-second clip – seemingly filmed on the Surrey and London border around Staines and Feltham which has gone viral on X- sees smoke rising from the road as the police ranger smashes into it, leaving the farmyard animal flailing and struggling to get to its feet.
The car then speeds up again, almost crushing the cow beneath its front bumper. Mr Packham has blasted the force on X, where he wrote: “I don’t know where to start with this. But it’s surely illegal and must be investigated and prosecuted. What sort of monster rams a calf? Twice?”
The video also prompted calls for a “full, urgent explanation” by Home Secretary James Cleverly. In a tweet he said: ““I can think of no reasonable need for this action. I’ve asked for a full, urgent explanation for this. It appears to be unnecessarily heavy handed.”
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Warehouse worker Kai Bennetts, 22, of Feltham, West London, said the cow which looked young, was left with an “open gash” after it was hit by the police car and thrown several metres down the road. Mr Bennetts, who said he was “disgusted” by what he saw, told the PA news agency: “One of its back right legs had loads of grazes where the skin had come off.”
After the first strike, he said: “It (the cow) tried to get back up, and then they (the police) pushed it back over and blocked it by its neck and top half of his body and so it couldn’t get up. Inhumane is all I can say.”
Surrey Police said it received multiple calls of the cow on the loose, which has been bashing into cars. It added that it was concerned about public safety, and had tried to capture it for hours. The police then decided to use the police car to stop the cow. The force said the matter had been referred to its Professional Standards Department.
Members of the public helped to move the cow to a nearby farm in the early hours of Saturday. The owner has been located and a vet has looked at the cow’s injuries.
Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said: “I know that this has caused distress and I’d like to thank the community for their concern. The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed.
“There will be an investigation into the actions that led to this, but our focus at all times is on ensuring the safety of the public. I know there are videos circulating of this incident, which the public may find distressing. I would ask that these videos are sent directly to us to help with our investigation.”
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This is upsetting and distressing footage to watch. We will be getting in touch with the police urgently to understand the circumstances as to what happened.”
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