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EVENTY-YEAR-OLD BILL (NOT HIS real name) woke up early one Friday looking forward to
working his cattle. He never imag- ined that pleasant sunny April day would be his last. Bill needed to take a cow to the
veterinarian so he hitched his trailer to his truck and, like he had done countless times before, drove to the pens on his property just outside of town. He was alone because this particular cow was the nervous type and having more people around made her even more jumpy. After backing the trailer up to
the loading chute, Bill got out of his truck and opened the trailer gate. The cow, an Angus crossbred he had owned for years, had been penned up overnight and was not happy. Bill drove the cow into the chute and started her towards the trailer. Just as the cow got to the trailer, she suddenly wheeled around and ran back the way she had come. Bill, following close behind, never had a chance to
get out of her way. The cow ran into Bill and threw him against the side of the chute. There was no one around to help him or call 9-1-1. Bill died of his injuries that day, leaving behind a grieving family. He was another tragic victim of perhaps the most dangerous situation in the cattle business — loading cattle into a trailer. Bill’s story isn’t unusual. Anyone who has worked
cattle for any length of time can testify to the danger of loading cattle into a trailer. Many things can go wrong. First, cattle don’t like to be loaded into trailers,
particularly if they have to jump up to get in. They don’t like to be separated from their herd or confi ned in close contact with people. Even the gentlest cow can become agitated and dangerous when forced into an unfamiliar and stressful situation. Furthermore, loading trailers normally involves
working cattle on foot, which is hazardous in any circumstances. There aren’t a lot of statistics on trailer-related injuries
or deaths but a Google search turns up several stories similar to Bill’s. A 78-year-old Montana rancher was killed when the bull he was loading turned and slammed him into a fence. Another 78-year-old man was killed
when a cow he was unloading at a New York auction barn knocked him down and butted him several times. A 52-year-old Iowa man was killed inside a trailer by a bull that he and 2 other people were loading. A 2009 study conducted by the University of Iowa
looked at 21 cattle-related deaths in 4 states from 2003 to 2008. Eighteen deaths took place while working cattle in enclosed facilities, including one caused by a charging cow, when the victim, who was carrying a syringe of bovine antibiotic, was accidently injected. Three of the 21 deaths were directly related to loading cattle in a trailer. All of the deaths occurred while the victims were working cattle on foot. Interestingly, the median age of the victims in the
study was 65, which probably contributed to several of the deaths. As the ranching population ages, the prob- ability of cattle handling injuries and deaths is likely to increase. Anyone growing up around cattle has prob- ably been kicked, knocked down, and chased by cattle. The younger you are, the better you are able to evade cattle by moving or climbing the side of a corral. In addition, elderly people are generally more susceptible to injuries that commonly result from handling cattle in enclosed facilities. However, loading cattle can be dangerous for people of any age.
Don’t use force Most trailer-related injuries are preventable ac-
cording to Ron Gill, a livestock specialist with Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension. He is a rancher
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