James Cleverly has blasted ‘heavy handed’ police officers after appalling video footage showed them ramming a runaway cow with a squad car before trapping it under the vehicle.
The clip showed the car smashing into the animal after it had escaped from its enclosure in west London last night.
After being knocked to the ground, the bovine had barely got itself on its feet when the same car raced forward and rammed into it again.
The Home Secretary slammed the cops’ behaviour on X today, saying: ‘I can think of no reasonable need for this action.
‘I’ve asked for a full, urgent explanation for this. It appears to be unnecessarily heavy handed.’
Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham was also among those condemning the ‘brutal’ actions of the police force, which said it had been left with no choice but to knock down the animal after it presented a risk to the public.
He wrote: ‘I don’t know where to start with this. But it’s surely illegal and must be investigated and prosecuted.
‘What sort of monster rams a calf? Twice?’
TV and radio host Jeremy Vine joined the dissenting voices on social media, sharing the horrific clip to his followers.
He said: ‘Apologies if this shocked you but I was shocked myself.
‘Thankfully we now have Chris Packham involved.’
Actor James Dreyfus decided not to share the toe-curling footage but expressed his anger at how the officers had treated the ‘terrified cow’.
He posted: I’m not reposting the utterly horrific video taken of these b******* running over an escaped terrified cow. Not once. Not twice. But THREE times.
‘Backing up each time then driving full tilt & the injured animal till it was under the wheels of the car.
‘F*** YOU @SurreyPolice.’
Meanwhile, author Adrian Hilton called on the officers involved to be prosecuted.
He posted: ‘I hope the @RSPCA_official opens an investigation into this, which is harrowing to watch and utterly deplorable.
‘I can’t see any reason for this action: cows can be corralled by people. I’ve done it.’
Online users were quick to condemn the force’s apparent ‘brutality’ and criticised it for not acting more humanely.
One said: ‘For real, this could have been done safely. No need to be brutal like that. What a joke.’
‘This is disgraceful, I can not believe what I’ve just seen.’
The cow was running loose at around 8.55pm on Friday night in Staines-upon-Thames, causing disruption to traffic in the local area. Police said they had received several reports of it running at members of the public and damaging a car.
Surrey Police said officers had tried unsuccessfully for hours to safely capture the cow, after which a decision was made to use the police car to stop it from running off.
The force said it would be referring itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in relation to the incident.
It added the cow had since been taken to a vet and was receiving continued treatment after sustaining ‘a large cut’ to its leg.
Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said: ‘I know that this has caused distress and I’d like to thank the community for their concern.
‘The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed. There will be an investigation into the actions that led to this, but our focus at all times is on ensuring the safety of the public.’
In an earlier statement published on Friday evening the force said the animal became ‘increasingly distressed’ while it was being taken to safety. The cow was moved to a local park where it was waiting for a vet.
Chief Inspector Adam Tatton said: ‘We know that this has caused some distress within the local community this evening, and I would like to reassure you that we are doing all we can to identify the owners and ensure the cow is seen as quickly as possible by a vet
‘Our priority when responding to any incident is first and foremost the safety of the public. I would like to thank the community for their understanding this evening, and ask that they stay away from the park while officers are on scene.’
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: ‘This is upsetting and distressing to watch.
‘We will be getting in touch with the police urgently to understand the circumstances as to what happened.’