A FARMER based near Looe found “utter carnage” after he says a dog chased one of his cows into a ditch.

A terrified cow carrying a calf smashed through a gate and plunged headfirst into a deep ditch, breaking its neck – after the farmer says it was chased and separated from the herd.

Farmer Oliver Stephens said that the pregnant cow was found dead from her injuries while the rest of the 15 cows from his beef suckler herd, all of them in calf, were huddled in a corner.

“She had snapped the gate posts off to try to get away from the dog and had fallen into a deep ditch – the land falls away quite steeply there and she didn’t have a chance,” he said.

He was paid around £2,000 in compensation for the loss of the cow and calf – but said the stress and upset caused by the incident remained. He didn’t witness the attack and so has been unable to provide information to the police.

Mr Stephens farms beef and cereals on land near Looe surrounded by woodland owned and managed for public access by the Woodland Trust. Although he and the Trust have put up numerous signs urging dog walkers to keep their dogs on a lead when walking the farm’s footpaths to the woodland, many people still let their pets roam.

“Despite the signs people won’t have their dogs on a lead,” he said. “I had some signs from the police rural crime unit and put three up on a 500-metre stretch of footpath leading from the car park to the Woodland Trust access – they have all been ripped down.

“I think we have probably had three or four incidents a year since Covid,” he said. “A lot of people bought puppies – but it’s not the dogs that are the problem, it’s the owners.”