Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
Cow owners who let their beasts wander around a Russian city feasting in gardens and parks are to be fined after three of the animals were filmed attacking people.
The ‘parking fines’ for cows are to be introduced in the Kuzbass city of Myski after unattended cows pounced on passers-by.
Footage of the cow attacks then went viral on social media and prompted the council’s decision to act to tackle the large number of bovines roaming city streets.
The video shows a woman lying on the ground in the courtyard of an apartment building while three cows are trying to trample her and butt her.
But on top of the video, as many as three other people have been injured by roaming cows.
A 64-year-old grandmother and her two granddaughters, aged 16 and a four-year-old have been hurt.
Eyewitnesses said the cows attacked for no reason and the trio had to be rescued by locals.
By the time the police arrived, the cows had been chased away leaving their victims with bruises, the four-year-old so badly she needed hospital treatment.
Currently, she is under the supervision of doctors and although her injuries were not revealed, her life is not in danger.
Police tracked down the owner of the aggressive cows, a 58-year-old local resident. Materials on this case will be sent to the administrative commission.
The head of the Myskovsky city district, Yevgeny Timofeev, said that even earlier, with the onset of spring, cattle appeared in the city and caused inconvenience to residents.
Cows walked through the streets, parks and squares, and destroyed flower beds and young trees.
But he said they had never attacked people before.
After the incident, the city leadership decided to catch all the cows that are now roaming the streets.
The local council is also planning on introducing “parking fines” for unattended animals. All cows seen in public areas will be taken to a specially designated place where owners can only claim them if they pay fines.
Hosts will be able to return them only by paying fines.
They said that in accordance with Part 1 of Article 26-8 of the Law of the Kemerovo Region “On Administrative Offenses in the Kemerovo Region”, a fine of up to two thousand rubles is provided for grazing farm animals in the common areas of settlements, and in case of repeated commission – up to 2,500 rubles.
In another Kuzbass city, Prokopyevsk, a local resident with cows did not care for them. One of the cows released for free grazing died in the winter in the garbage. Her body was torn apart by stray dogs.
