A police officer who used his response car to ram an escaped cow has been removed from frontline duties, Surrey Police has said.
The incident happened on Friday at around 8:55pm after the police received reports that a cow was running loose in Staines-upon-Thames in the UK.
Footage that appeared online showed the cow in a residential street being hit twice by a police car.
Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: “I fully appreciate the distress our handling of this incident has caused and will ensure that it is thoroughly and diligently investigated.
“In addition to an internal referral to our Professional Standards Department, we have also referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for independent consideration.
“At this time, the officer who was driving the police car has been removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations.”
Mr Kemp noted that there has been “much concern around the current welfare of the cow”, adding that she is “now back with her owner and recuperating with her herd”.
“She did sustain a large cut to one leg and cuts and grazes,” he said.
UK Home Secretary James Cleverly had asked for a “full, urgent explanation” as to why officers used the car to ram the escaped animal, saying it seemed “unnecessarily heavy handed”.
The animal, a 10-month-old calf named Beau Lucy, is “limping” but doing “a lot better” and taking medicine to treat her injuries, according to her farmer owner.
