A memorial vigil will be held for a cow that was shot dead by police marksmen.
The cow, nicknamed Bessie, was one of three that escaped from Rising Sun Country Park in North Tyneside on Sunday.
A helicopter and six police marksmen tracked the trio - two were recaptured but Bessie was shot "in the interests of public safety".
The vigil is to take place at 18:00 BST on Friday, at a field in Chicken Lane, Wallsend.
More than 6,000 people have liked a Facebook page set up in her memory.
'Serious send-off'
Those attending the vigil are asked to wear a cow onesie and bring a candle.
Dave Turner, who set up the R.I.P. Wallsend Cow Facebook page, said: "It's not every day you get a cow getting shot in a field nearby. I think we need to mark this occasion with a serious send-off for Bessie.
"It wasn't doing anything, it was just eating a bit of grass - it probably got sick of the grass it was eating elsewhere, it heard about a nice new patch, went down and started grazing, and the next thing is police turn up and start firing at it.
"We are going to light candles and say a little prayer for her."
A Northumbria Police spokesman said Bessie was destroyed after becoming "increasingly distressed" and "causing dangerous and severe obstructions" on a major road.

 Orlanth wrote:

If a cow gets onto a main road in England however, and might scratch someones car paintwork that is, of course, justified grounds to call in marksmen and blow it away.

 Orlanth wrote:
Sometimes I despair at our nanny state, antiseptic, wishy washy, neutered culture.

When Africans kill lions that stray too close to human settlements, our middle classes choke on their chardonnay, and demand the little villagers close up and give lions more space.

If a cow gets onto a main road in England however, and might scratch someones car paintwork that is, of course, justified grounds to call in marksmen and blow it away.

 welshhoppo wrote:
Cows are pretty big, pretty sure a lorry hit a cow once and the lorry got knocked off the road because of the impact.

Does the helicopter crew get to eat it? Food tastes better when you kill it yourself.

 welshhoppo wrote:
We have farmers, but we also have quite a bit of common land. Under common land laws, commoners (people who live on the common) can graze their animals on it. As there tend to be roads running through commons, occasionally an animal can walk onto the road. I've nearly hit quite a few things in my time.

 Jimsolo wrote:
Lol, I guess England and Southern Illinois are just very different places. Here we just...drive around the deer.

 Frazzled wrote:

 welshhoppo wrote:
We have farmers, but we also have quite a bit of common land. Under common land laws, commoners (people who live on the common) can graze their animals on it. As there tend to be roads running through commons, occasionally an animal can walk onto the road. I've nearly hit quite a few things in my time.

I should be more clear. How come you don't have someone who can like, herd a cow? Did you know you can herd a cow with a Nissan Sentra? I've done it.

 Da Boss wrote:
It's pretty common to have livestock on the roads in rural areas in the UK I would expect, similar to Ireland. Often have to watch out for sheep in the West of Ireland or herd them out of the way in some places.

You get the odd cow down where I am from because it's a dairying area, but yeah, just put the hazard lights on, hop out and shoo it off the road. Cows are not that hard to manage.

I guess if it was a motorway it might have been more of a risk?

 whembly wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It's pretty common to have livestock on the roads in rural areas in the UK I would expect, similar to Ireland. Often have to watch out for sheep in the West of Ireland or herd them out of the way in some places.

You get the odd cow down where I am from because it's a dairying area, but yeah, just put the hazard lights on, hop out and shoo it off the road. Cows are not that hard to manage.

I guess if it was a motorway it might have been more of a risk?

At least you don't have four-legged widowmakers:


Jeebus... look at all that meat!

 Frazzled wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
It's pretty common to have livestock on the roads in rural areas in the UK I would expect, similar to Ireland. Often have to watch out for sheep in the West of Ireland or herd them out of the way in some places.

You get the odd cow down where I am from because it's a dairying area, but yeah, just put the hazard lights on, hop out and shoo it off the road. Cows are not that hard to manage.

I guess if it was a motorway it might have been more of a risk?

At least you don't have four-legged widowmakers:


Jeebus... look at all that meat!

You really need to show a pic next to a car to get the proper scale of a moose. They are freaking huge.


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 Orlanth wrote:
Sometimes I despair at our nanny state, antiseptic, wishy washy, neutered culture.

When Africans kill lions that stray too close to human settlements, our middle classes choke on their chardonnay, and demand the little villagers close up and give lions more space.

If a cow gets onto a main road in England however, and might scratch someones car paintwork that is, of course, justified grounds to call in marksmen and blow it away.

Those attending the vigil are asked to wear a cow onesie and bring a candle.

 Medium of Death wrote:
I think this gives the best idea of scale.