Couple walking their dogs injured after being charged by cattle in the Yorkshire Dales

Although the cows did not make contact with the couple, the man fell while climbing into a neighbouring field to escape and seriously injured his knee.

The incident happened near Upper Settle on Saturday August 19 and was attended by the Cave Rescue Organisation.

The CRO incident log stated: “A couple were walking on the field path from Lambert Lane to Upper Settle, with their dogs, when a group of young cattle began running towards them. The walkers scrambled into a different field to avoid the beasts, but the man (53) fell and sustained a knee injury, so that he could not walk. YAS paramedics attended, giving pain relief and splinting the injured leg but were unable to move the casualty. Team members used a Titan stretcher to lift the man over a wall and to the road ambulance for the journey to hospital.”

Commenting on the post, another walker, Catherine Speakman, said she had experienced a similar incident in the area: “I’ve been caught out up there too - you can’t always see when there are cattle out due to the lie of the land. Most terrifying time was when I got cornered with my tiny baby in a front carrier next to a tall wall - I’d been certain the field was clear. I rarely ever go across there now due to the cattle.”

In 2020, three men were killed in cattle trampling incidents in Yorkshire, one of them within the Dales National Park. David Tinniswood, 82, a retired teacher and experienced rambler, was tossed into the air by cows near Ribblehead Viaduct while working his border terriers with his wife, who was seriously injured.

The farmer, Christopher Sharpe, was later given a suspended prison sentence after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Later the same summer, 59-year-old deputy headteacher Dave Clark was killed by cattle while walking his dogs near his home in Richmond. The former Scotland Under 21 rugby player was the father of ex-England international Calum Clark.

The third victim was telecomms specialist Michael Holmes, 57, who was charged while on a lunchtime walk with his wife and their daughter’s two dogs near their home in Netherton, near Wakefield. His wife was left in a wheelchair.

The following summer another dog walker, former Army officer Janicke Tvedt, 55, was seriously injured by a herd near Masham and ended up having to have part of her colon removed.