A vet has urged dog owners to keep their pets locked up after a brutal attack on two cows in Mallow, Co Cork, this week.

John Collins said he received a call from a client from on Monday night saying that two cows had been attacked and he “got quite the shock” when he saw the distressed state of the cows and “blood all over the pen where the cattle were”.

The cows both had severe injuries ear injuries, with one cow losing both ears completely.

Risk of aborting

“I administrated first-aid treatment first to stop the bleeding and prevent any immediate danger. The next day I was able to do some grafting of skin from their necks and attach some new skin as best I could to what was left of their ears.”

Both cows are also within a week of calving, and this attack posed a “very real risk that they would abort”, Collins added. However, both cows now are “doing well and the more time passes the better chance there is that won’t happen”.

Although the farmer did not see the dogs himself, he heard dogs fighting and was certain it was dogs that had attacked the cows. Other farmers in the area also complained of disturbances the night after this attack.

Controlling dogs

Collins believes it may have been the sweetness of the dairy rations that attracted the dogs into the shed. The attacked cows are also inexperienced and were recently introduced to the herd, meaning they may have left themselves more vulnerable to interference. The vet also suspects they may have got caught in the self-locking mechanism.

He urged dog owners “to control their dogs, and keep them locked up at any time of the day”.

You can see fotage of the injuries in the video posted to Facebook by Mallow vets below, which contains graphic images.

Posted by Mallow Vets on Tuesday, 26 January 2016