Thirteen years after a Belgian blue cow was shot dead by armed police in Grantham, the incident remains a point of contention for many residents who remember that afternoon.
On Monday 25 March 2013, just before 3pm, police received a report of a loose cow near Belton Lane. Over the following couple of hours, the animal made its way through residential streets, growing increasingly frightened as it went. Officers followed it, roads were affected, and a gathering crowd only unsettled the animal further.
The decision to shoot
The RSPCA and the animal's owner were both consulted. Sedation was among the options considered. By around 5.20pm, with the cow in the grounds of Belton Lane Community Primary School, armed officers decided it posed too great a risk to the public and shot it dead. The pupils and most staff had already left for the day.
Four shots were fired, and all four hit. Police later confirmed the animal survived the first two.
National outcry
The story travelled widely. The Mirror ran the headline "If it moos, shoot it: Fury as police marksmen kill runaway cow". The Daily Express went with "Outrage as lost cow is shot dead in front of primary school". The Independent reported "Anger after 'aggressive' lost cow is shot dead by police", noting the force had been "labelled heavy-handed". By the following day ITV, the Yorkshire Post and others were reporting that police had come out to "defend" the killing after a public outcry.
The force's justification
Superintendent Phil Vickers, who coordinated the operation, said it was "regrettable and sad", but that everything had been tried to capture the animal before it became "increasingly distressed, aggressive and unpredictable". He said public safety had been paramount throughout.
Lincolnshire Police stated that in a rural county, they deal with dozens of loose-animal incidents a year without them ending this way. However, because this one was in a built-up area, they said the preservation of human life had to come first.