A constable in England who attempted to intercept a runaway cow by hitting it with a vehicle has been removed from duty, according to a police statement released on Sunday.
The event occurred on Friday evening, when police were summoned to a cow sighting in a residential section of the small town of Staines-upon-Thames, southern England.
On Sunday, Surrey Police announced that the officer operating the car had been “removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations”.
Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp of Surrey Police said: “I fully appreciate the distress our handling of this incident has caused and will ensure that it is thoroughly and diligently investigated.”
Images published on social media and in the British press showed a police car hitting the animal twice. The cow ended up with its head and upper body trapped under the police car.
“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,” Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote on X, formally Twitter.
On Saturday, police stated that after many fruitless attempts to recover the cow and considering public safety, the decision was made to intercept the cow with the police car.
The 10-month-old cow, named “Beau Lucy,” was inspected by a veterinarian and reconnected with its owner, who reported that the animal was “doing better.”