Police shot cow 12 times, firearm blunders figures reveal

A cow: police shot one runaway cow 12 times in a bungled attempt to humanely kill it
A constable and an acting sergeant blasted the beast eight times with a rifle and four times with a shotgun in what police called a ‘humane destruction’ on a school playing field.

 

They said it was hard to hit the target because of ‘a combination of wind speed, distance and type of gun used’.
Animal behaviour expert Dr Roger Mugford said their attempts appeared to be ‘pretty incompetent’.
He added: ‘I’ve regrettably had to despatch cows and sheep before. A shotgun blast from close range to the forehead reliably kills with one shot.’
The cow shooting was one of 180 occasions that police firearms have been used to ruin wounded or perilous animals in the past three years, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have shown. Officers have also accidentally discharged their weapons 110 times since January 2007 – nearly four times as often as when confronted with actual threats.

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