Brokers will tell clients – driving with a pet loose in the vehicle, although legal, can be disastrous. But who could imagine anyone driving around town with a cow in the car?
That was the amazing sight that confronted one visitor to one town centre on a busy Friday afternoon.
Employment officer Carla Quinn was behind a Citroen family car after a trip to the bank in Ballymena, Ireland, when her fellow traveller spotted what appeared to be a very large dog in the back seat.
But when it lifted its head she spotted the yellow ear tags – and realized it was a cow.
“He said to me, 'you should see the size of the dog in that car – it's the size of a cow,'” she told the Belfast Telegraph. “So we were talking about dogs and the size of dogs, such as Irish wolfhounds and St Bernards, and I asked what colour it was and he said black.
“I was looking at it and I could see something like a head and then the head came up and it looked like a panda. Then it lifted the head and all I could see was the two yellow tags on the ears and I said 'It's a cow!'”
Helen Lialias of the Insurance Bureau of Canada said that brokers should remind clients to restrain their pets when transporting them in a vehicle. (continued.)
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“Unrestrained pets in your vehicle can be a distraction for the driver,” she told Insurance Business. “Free roaming pets are also in danger of being catapulted in the passenger cabin and getting seriously injured in an accident or sudden stop. Pets should always be restrained in your vehicle. Restraints vary from harnesses and belts to cages and crates.”
Although many have seen dogs moving around in cars on the road, a cow in a car is quite unique.
“We had to take a photo because nobody would have believed me if I'd gone home and said ‘Guess what I've just seen – a cow in a car in the middle of town.’”
Carla emailed the picture to a few friends and now it's creating a stir on Twitter.
“I showed it to my dad and he said it's a calf, but not a suckling calf. It's well over a year old,” she said. “If it had wanted to get out, it could have wrecked the car. I was just like ‘Oh my God, only in Ballymena would you see it.’
“They were probably doing their bank or something and brought the cow with them. I put it up on Facebook and everyone was going ‘Typical Ballymena – some farmer's bought that for the wife for Christmas and is trying to keep it secret.’”
A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said it was “ill-advised but not illegal” to carry a calf in a car, saying it doesn't breach the offence of driving without due care and attention.
