Shocking video

Cow rammed twice by police car near London

(Bild: KameraOne)

Police officers have rammed a runaway cow (seen in the video above shortly before the incident) with their police car near London. Another video of the incident is now causing outrage in the UK. 

The owners of ten-month-old "Beau Lucy" have called for the police officers responsible to be sacked. "It looked like they wanted to kill her," the farmer's partner told Sky News in Staines-upon-Thames near London on Sunday.

Hit twice
The video shows the police car violently ramming the cow, which weighs around 200 kilograms, in a residential area. The animal skids several meters across the road, picks itself up and continues running.

The car then hits the cow again, which remains trapped under the car. According to the owners, the animal did not suffer any serious injuries.

Warning: The video embedded here contains depictions of violence against an animal and could provoke strong emotional reactions from animal lovers: 

"Comprehensive urgent statement"
The British Home Secretary James Cleverly called for a "full and urgent explanation". He said the officers' actions seemed "unnecessarily harsh". The animal welfare organization RSPCA described the footage as "disturbing and upsetting", and the well-known animal rights activist Chris Packham wrote on X: "What kind of monster rams a calf?"

The police defended their actions. They said the cow had wandered through several streets on Friday night. Callers had reported that a car had been damaged and the animal had run towards people. After several attempts to catch the animal had failed for hours, it was decided to stop the escape with the police car out of concern for public safety.

Police officer suspended
Late in the evening, it was announced that the police officer involved had been suspended from duty. "I fully understand the anger our actions have caused," Deputy Police Chief Nev Kemp said on Sunday.

The owners suspect that "Beau Lucy" escaped from her pasture through a river. The animal had calmed down since returning to the farm and was eating normally. The vet who examined the cow said that she was already feeling "better".