Skip to content

Injured cow put down by conservation service near Burns Lake

The animal was hurt as a result of falling out of a truck on Hwy. 16
26709293_web1_211013-LDN-Cow-shot-CO-cops_1

A cow was put down by conservation services after being injured falling out of a cattle liner truck on Highway 16 near Miller Road.

According to RCMP North District Advisory Corporal Madonna Saunderson, officers responded to a report of the incident on Oct. 3 at 4:12 p.m.. RCMP officers also assisted the conservation services with rounding up several cattle that had escaped the truck.

Lakes District News spoke to Jeff Palm, a conservation officer stationed in Burns Lake, who was the first person on the scene. “I arrived to the scene after a call came across police radio about cattle that fallen out of a truck. When I arrived, there were three cattle that had fallen out, one was severely injured with two broken hind legs. There was quite a lot of blood loss as well,” said Palm.

“I had to put down the cow, and then remove it from the side of the road.”

According to Palm, the reasoning behind putting the cow down was so that it didn’t suffer. “Unfortunately, you can’t save livestock that have sustained major injuries like the ones the cow had suffered,” he said. “It’s quite common for us to put down, and then move injured bears and moose that have been struck on highways, and a similar process was used in this situation.”

Lakes District News asked Palm if there was any reason for the cows falling out of the truck such as human error. “That’s an RCMP matter, but to me it looked like a total accident,” he said.

According to Saunderson, the incident is still under investigation, and no information about why the cattle fell out of the truck is available at this time.


Have a story tip? Email:

Eddie Huband
Multimedia Reporter
eddie.huband@ldnews.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.