By
Chris BrookeLast updated at 2:53 AM on 23rd June 2009
A vet was trampled to death by a herd of cows as she walked her dogs in a field. Liz
Crowsley, 49, may have been trying to protect her two pet dogs, who
escaped injury and were found running free near her body.
Cows are highly protective of their newly-born calves at this time
of year and farmers warn walkers they may attack, especially if a dog
is in their field.
Tragedy: The herd are though to have been panicked by the woman's dogs while she was walking the Penine Way
Miss Crowsley, a regular walker in the Yorkshire Dales, was dead
when a holidaymaker found her around noon on Sunday, shortly after the
incident.
Police said she was walking along the Pennine Way in Wensleydale,
North Yorkshire, with her spaniel and collie dogs when she was killed.
'She was surrounded by a herd of cows and calves and as a result of
the dogs being present, the cattle reacted in an aggressive manner,'
said a police spokesman.Miss Crowsley, who was single and did not have any children, appears
to have been trapped against a dry-stone wall before being trampled.
Ramblers pass the scene where the woman rambler was crushed against the stone wall by the herd
The incident happened on a bridleway close to the hamlet of Gayle,
near Hawes. Miss Crowsley had been staying in a holiday cottage in the
area.
She came from Warrington, Cheshire, and was head vet at the Willows Veterinary Hospital in Hartford, Cheshire.
A holidaymaker staying in the area, who did not want to be
identified, said: 'My wife had earlier seen a woman carrying a stick
and walking up the field with two dogs.
'A little later we were upstairs when we heard a strange bellowing sound coming from the cows in a nearby field.
I saw a herd of cows crowded round one area of the field.
'I knew something was wrong so I went outside, picked up a wooden
post and went to the cows and shooed them away. Then I saw a woman on
the ground, with her head bent at an unnatural angle. I checked her but
there was no pulse.'He alerted emergency services, but paramedics were unable to save her.LocalNational Farmers' Union official Ken Buck said the cows would
have seen the dogs as predators. 'In these circumstances the cows would
harass the dogs and most dogs would be fearful and would hide behind
their owners for protection,' he said.
'The cattle want to get to the
dogs and the dogs want to get away. It's best for the owner in this
situation to just drop the leads and let the dogs go.'
Last year, another dog walker, Sandra Pearce, 45, was killed in a
similar incident near the village of South Elmham, in Suffolk. She was
trampled after trying to bring her two dogs under control.
Just over a fortnight ago, former home secretary
David Blunkettsuffered a black eye and a cracked rib when he was knocked over by a
cow that was trying to protect her young.
Mr Blunkett, 62, was walking in the Peak District with his
26-year-old son Andrew and guide dog Sadie. Later, he said it was a
'miracle' he wasn't killed.