What to do in these situations

JASTN70D · Feb 18, 2005

Bill

Having been on the other side of this issue. (Lost Cows) I can tell you anything you can do to help get them home would be greatly appreciated. A call to the sheriff would be a big help to the owners.

In our state we are required to report lose livestock by law. I was always under the impression the law was meant for the owner but now I am not so sure if everyone does not have that responsibility because of the obvious road hazard they present.

This last summer we lost 2 calves for 4 days. Let me tell you we were real worried someone was going to get hurt. Quite stressful time for everyone. Finally found them about 4000 feet behind the barn stuck in a thicket that we passed by maybe 20 times looking for them. They seemed to actually be hiding /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif.

We also had 2 lamas show up on our property this past year. They were being chased by the police without much luck though. We happened to know the owners so we gave them a call and they were able to finally round them up.

thegreatrandini · Feb 18, 2005

1. call sheriff!!!! Yes I agree! I have done it....

2. horses lay down all the time!!!! Does not mean a thing. I use to whistle at mine when they were down to see if they were ok.. but now I just leave them be.....Don't wake the horse owner up to tell them that his horses are lying down..
I have done that too.... before I had my own.....ha ha ha

thegreatrandini · Feb 18, 2005

My gramps had truckin company and one of his drivers hit an entire heard of antelope in Wyoming in the 1950's....I remember he said there was some fog but I don't know how it happened.

I was always told that if you hit livestock (not antelope) in a free range state that you had to pay for them????

LBrown59 · Feb 18, 2005

( ( Would you care to address the unique situation of responsibility regarding your vehicle hitting cattle on an "ordinary" roadway vs. on a "FM" or "FR" road? )

Nope, not me. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif It's far too complicated for me, and probably even for most attorneys. There's even such a thing as "local option" elections that can be held to determine what animals may or may not be allowed to roam free in a county or part of a county. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )

Bet the stats for car livestock accidents in the western states are a lot higher in the western states than it is here in Ohio!

RSKY · Feb 22, 2005

In Kentucky you are responsible for any damage caused by livestock that have been allowed to roam free. I had a six month old new car in 1983 that I took out an 800 pound steer with. The farmers insurance had to pay and I believe they then cancelled him. And unless I am mistaken if you have been reported several times for your stock being out and somebody is injured in an accident involving your stock you are in big trouble. One cow being out can cause you to literally loose the farm.

I have seen a car that hit a horse doing about 60mph (the car that is) and the guy was just lucky he hit it on the passenger side. On that side the floor was pushed up ABOVE the level of the seat and the roof was pushed down to the seat back.

I would consider cattle on the highway at least as dangerous as a drunk driver and cannot understand how anyone in good conscience would not report them. If you pass them by and somebody hits one of them and is seriously hurt or killed how will you feel? Here in Kentucky the usual thing to do is stop at the first house you come to and tell the homeowner. They will have an idea who the cattle belong to and will call them. Then go on your way.

WVBill · Feb 24, 2005

( We also had 2 lamas show up on our property this past year. They were being chased by the police without much luck though. We happened to know the owners so we gave them a call and they were able to finally round them up. )

Had a similar thing happen when we first moved here. We knew where the llama farm was so we called them. The llama farmer knew it was a male that had gotten out so he brought a female over in a stock trailer and the male just walked right in. No "roundup" necessary! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

snorider · Feb 24, 2005

I have heard that people that my grandpa knows had a clydesdale horses get out of the pen when they were on vacation. When a neighbor seen them and stoped. they were on a 50mph or so road. Then they seen a kid driving down the road, they tryed to get him to stop him but he did not stop and hit the horse. The people that owned the horse would of been sued but since the neighbor tryed to get the person to stop and he just kept going the person who owned the horse was not responsible.