Calf's 'lucky escape' after fireworks spook herd

A vet says a 12-hour-old calf had a "lucky escape" after suffering a broken leg when it was trampled by other cattle in a herd spooked by bonfire night fireworks.

Molly McKay, a veterinary surgeon at Norfolk Farm Ltd, was called out to a farm near Skegness on Thursday evening to treat the calf, named Neil.

McKay fitted the injured leg with a plaster cast and said Neil was already back on his feet.

"We will have to change the cast in a couple of weeks time just to check that leg is setting OK, but it looks like he had a lucky escape," she added.

McKay said Neil had been trodden on across his abdomen and on one foreleg, which was broken. He also had "significant bruising" to his side, head, body and ribs.

But she said, "very much to everyone's delight", the calf was "back on its feet again" following treatment.

She added: "This morning we're told that the calf, although sore, is doing very well and so hopefully we'll make a reasonable recovery."

McKay said the effects of fireworks on livestock could be "very dangerous for the animals, but also for the public".

It is an offence to cause an animal unnecessary suffering, but the RSPCA said livestock continued to be frightened by fireworks being let off near the places where they were kept every year.

The government is considering tighter restrictions, which could see the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public cut from 120 to 110 decibels.

A public consultation closed on 7 October.

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