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COWS

Bolting cows plunge into Lake Constance

Saint Gallen cantonal police were forced to put on their cowboy hats after two Highland cows went astray and jumped into Lake Constance for a swim before being captured on Sunday.

Bolting cows plunge into Lake Constance

The shaggy, long-horned cows were first reported missing, along with another one, on Saturday night from a farm about 10 kilometres from Rorschach, a town on the lake.

Police said they received several calls about the cows being seen in various areas east of the town on Sunday morning.

By that time the owner of the cattle was out in pursuit trying to track them down.

A resident phoned police at noon to say the burly animals were trotting along a railway embankment toward a station at Goldach.

Officers then managed to capture one of the animals, while the other two ran off in the direction of Rorschach, police said.

Two cantonal police patrol cars gave chase until reaching the Kabisplatz, a square in Rorschach, when the cows turned abruptly and plunged into the lake.

“We were in the process of walking among friends along a path that runs alongside the port of Rorscharch when we heard a warning resonating from police loud speakers,” a woman told the 20 Minuten newspaper.

“Before we could understand what was going on, the animals arrived at a gallop and threw themselves in the lake.”    

Police and rescue officials in two boats managed to lasso the cows as they were swimming in the direction of a lakeside restaurant.

The animals were more than 200 metres from shore, police said.

They were towed to land and tied to a tree until their owner could reclaim them with a cattle truck.

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FARMING

EXPLAINED: What is Denmark’s ‘cow spring break’ all about?

Organic farms in Denmark released cows from barns at 12pm on Sunday, with the animals roaming enthusiastically onto the fields as tens of thousands of spectators looked on.

EXPLAINED: What is Denmark's 'cow spring break' all about?
Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Ritzau Scanpix

The annual tradition of celebrating the end of cows’ winter enclosure took place at midday on Sunday, when cows were released on to the grass at 59 organic farms across the country.

The event gives the public an important chance to see agriculture at first-hand, said Per Kølster, chairperson of interest organisation Økologisk Landsforening (National Organic Association).

“This is about being open, trustworthy and about the good feeling that can come from seeing these wonderful animals when they jump around on the grass,” Kølster told Ritzau.

“The trust upon which organic is built can be seen with your own eyes,” he added.

Last year, over 200,000 people in Denmark went to see the release of the cows at farms around the country.

Kølster said his assessment was that just as many had turned out this year to see the event sometimes referred to as the ‘cows’ spring break’.

“Interest is actually huge. That’s down to the animals. And this is because their joy is so clear,” he said.


Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Ritzau Scanpix

The head of Økologisk Landsforening said he was in no doubt as to why the cows reacted as they did, running out on to the grass and jumping up and down to the delight of spectators.

“It can only be explained by one thing, and that’s excitement. They know that spring is coming. It’s just like a racing horse flying out of the traps,” he said.

“They only have one thing on their minds, and that’s to get out there and experience the grass. It’s very energetic,” he added.

Not everyone shares Kølster’s enthusiasm for the event. Local media TV2 Østjylland reported that vegans attended events in protest, while activist organisation Vegan Change was critical of what it likened to a 'Disneyfication' of agriculture.

“(Visitors) don’t see that cows walk around in cow dung for the rest of the year, or that they are damaged by all of the milk they are forced to produce. They don’t see calves and mothers being separated after 24 hours, or when cows are sent to the slaughter and are killed by a bolt pistol to the head and a knife to the throat,” Sophia Nox, a spokesperson for the group, told TV2 Østjylland.

Kølster told the media that it was the “clear democratic right” of vegans to demonstrate.

“The vegans’ project is very respectable. It’s fine for them to take a critical view of agriculture. But I can’t imagine farmers would show up to demonstrate at a day of celebration for vegans,” he said.

READ ALSO: Escaped cows cause chaos on Copenhagen highway

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