In Tyrol, a hiker was killed by a cow. The Higher Regional Court decides that the landlord does not have to pay compensation.
Erl – When hiking in the Alps, but also on alpine pastures in the mountains, many paths lead through open pastures. Basically, cows are very peaceful animals that you don't need to be afraid of. Nevertheless, dangerous encounters still occur. In 2017, a hiker died from a cow attack in Austria. The Innsbruck Higher Regional Court has now made a ruling on this.
Woman was run over by a cow in an open pasture in 2017
The incident happened in 2017 on the Kranzhorn-Alm in the Tyrolean Erl, Kufstein district. A 70-year-old local woman was walking through open alpine pastures with her dog and was trampled to death by cows. As a court spokesman reports, she took photos of the animals and approached them. The cows then became aggressive. As the hiker tried to escape, she fell and was overrun.
Higher regional court agrees with Almwirt: no compensation payment due to cow attack
The survivors then demanded compensation, which the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Innsbruck also imposed in the first instance: 80,000 euros plus interest – to be paid to the husband, daughter and granddaughter of the deceased. However, the alpine farmer appealed and was now proven right, because pastures and alpine pastures do not necessarily have to be fenced off.
The only exception would be if there had been incidents with the animals in the past. That was not the case, the OLG argued, adding that there would also have been an alternative route secured by a fence.
The President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture, Josef Hechenberger, welcomed the court's decision “despite the tragic circumstances”. This is groundbreaking for alpine farming. The OLG spokesman explained: “This is an individual case decision. It always depends on the circumstances. The verdict is not a kind of clean bill of health for either farmers or hikers.”
Path through open pastures: How to behave correctly
Anyone who walks through open pastures as a hiker should pay attention to a few behaviors berchtesgarden.de summarizes.
- Avoid direct contact with the animals, keep your distance and do not take selfies with the animals.
- Herds with calves are more restless because cows protect their young animals.
- Walk slowly through the pasture and do not make any hectic movements.
- Don't make noise.
- Do not separate individual animals from the herd.
- Leash dogs.
- Pay attention to warning signals from cows and do not turn your back on them.
- Cows have a strong side vision, so if you don't approach from the front, you'll have to pass.
Similar case comes to a different result
In 2014 there was a similar incident in the mountains in Tyrol's Pinnistal, in which a 45-year-old German woman from Bad Dürkheim and her dog were attacked and killed by cows. At that time, the court decided differently and gave the victim and the farmer each part of the blame. It was said that the farmer was aware that his mother cows were sensitive and aggressive towards dogs. A cow attack on hikers also caused a stir in South Tyrol. (jh with dpa)
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