People in the UK - as well as social media users around the world - have been left outraged after footage of a police car ramming a cow multiple times went viral.
Surrey Police has received a received a huge public backlash. Credit: Pexels
As reported by Metro, videos uploaded on social media show the moment a 10-month-old calf was rammed five times by a Surrey Police car.
The incident took place on Friday (June 14), at approximately 8:55PM (local time) in the town of Staines-upon-Thames.
In one of the videos, the cow can be see staring into the police car's headlights, before being rammed to the tarmac. The car then hit the cow several more times.
One video can be seen below - some readers will find the footage distressing:
On witness can be heard saying: "Oh my god, they just killed it, they just rammed it. That’s f***ing animal cruelty. The poor bloody cow."
When asked why the cow was being rammed, an officer can be heard saying: "To stop it killing someone."
After the footage was shared to social media, Surrey Police received a heavy backlash, with one person writing: "So you’re saying that the correct way to tackle a defensive cow, after multiple attempts, is to just… hit it with your car? Absolutely barbaric. Disgusting."
"For real, this could have been done safely. No need to be brutal like that. What a joke," another added.
Top Gear star and farmer Jeremy Clarkson also tweeted: "I will vote for any party which stops the police from running over cows."
Many others also called for the officer behind the wheel to be fired.
In response to the backlash, Surrey Police issued a statement, saying: "The cow was running loose throughout the evening on a number of main roads and during this time, we received numerous calls from the public reporting a car being damaged and it running at members of the public.
"Given these reports, officers were extremely concerned about the public’s safety, and over a period of a number of hours tried a number of options to safely capture the cow."
Describing these "options" and "unsuccessful", the statement continues: "The decision was made to stop it using a police car. This matter has been referred to our Professional Standards Department. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been notified and a voluntary referral will be made in due course."
The statement confirmed that the cow did survive, but sustained "a large cut to its leg". The animal has been moved to a nearby farm where it is being treated by a local vet.
Additionally, 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."
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