A German vacationer was seriously injured in a cow attack in the Stubaital (Austria). The 64-year-old is still suffering from the terrible experience.
Stubaital/Cologne – Cow attacks keep happening on the pastures in the mountains of Austria. However, an incident for a holidaymaker from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in June was particularly dramatic. The 64-year-old was hiking with her husband on a pilgrimage route in the Stubaital in Tyrol when they met a herd of cows. The cow attack was more than two months ago, but the shock is still deep.
German vacationer after cow attack in Austria: “I thought I was going to die”
“A cow jumped me from behind and I fell into the ditch. The animal then threw itself on me and kept hitting my head with its skull,” the Rhinelander now tells the Austrian Crown newspaper. “I thought I was going to die.” Her husband repeatedly hit the cow with a branch to drive the animal away, which finally succeeded. She was scared to death at the time. The German vacationer had to be rescued from the ditch with ropes. A rescue helicopter then flew the injured to the Innsbruck clinic.
“Fortunately, I had no fractures or internal injuries,” says Petra M. der Crown newspaper. However, the 64-year-old said she suffered severe bruises, cuts and bruises on her hands, arms, shoulders and back with pressure on her kidneys and lungs. The left side of her face and the eye were swollen shut. After four weeks of sick leave, she is currently still receiving medical treatment.
“I’m traumatized, I’m still in pain and I get scared when I see a cow.” According to the press report from the Austrian police, the German holidaymaker suffered bruises and bruises from the cow attack on June 20, 2022, but was able to leave the clinic on June 20, 2022 leave the same day.
Cow attack victim criticizes investigation
According to media reports, the preliminary investigation after the cow attack was discontinued by the public prosecutor. The owner of the attacking mother cow could not be determined, it is said. In addition, the signs were clear and numerous, and there were no indications of previous incidents. According to the Austrian newspaper, the vacationer was stunned by this decision. In the eyes of the vacationer, something must be done, it cannot be in the interests of tourism. A lawyer would be involved.
Conflicts with cows in the Alps are not uncommon
Cow attacks on tourists in Austria’s mountains keep causing problems. Cows are said to have attacked a group of American schoolchildren on a hike in a pasture and thus put them in an emergency.
However, since 2019, the Tyrolean Alpine Protection Ordinance has specifically listed “rules of conduct for visitors to alpine pastures” under § 5. According to this, visitors to alpine pastures must behave in such a way that the operation of the alpine pastures is not impaired and, in particular, the grazing cattle are not disturbed, alarmed or irritated by the visitors or animals they are bringing with them. The Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture points out the following binding rules for visitors to alpine pastures:
- keeping a safe distance from grazing livestock and avoiding contact
- not to feed or frighten the grazing cattle and, if there are signs of unrest, to leave the grazing area as quickly as possible
- as far as appropriate, not to leave the paths on the alpine pastures and pastures, to observe pasture fences, to use pasture gates and to close them again after passing them
- Grazing cattle blocking the way, to be bypassed on a large scale and to avoid approaching grazing cattle.
By law, grazing cattle are allowed to roam freely in Tyrol. A amusing animated video by the Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture wants to fix it. After a death in Tyrol, there was even talk of a hiking ban on alpine pastures. (ml)
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