August 10, 2017
Maidenwell resident Max Forsyth fears that wandering cattle which appear to have escaped from a local property could cause a major traffic accident.
Max has already been a victim of the herd – believed to number about seven – when a bull and a cow suddenly rushed out in front of him on July 31 as he was driving down the 230 metre-long driveway on his King Road property.
Max told southburnett.com.au the accident occurred about 6:20pm, after the sun had gone down. He didn’t see the cattle until they were right in front of him.
His Subaru struck the beasts, smashing in the front of the car and tossing Max around the cabin of his vehicle. The animals then took off.
“They just bolted straight out. I had nowhere to go,” Max said.
“I have seen the cow since, and she is hobbling but I have not been able to catch her,” Max said.
The cow has a calf at heel, but the calf was not struck in the accident.
The bull, though, has disappeared, and Max fears it may have died somewhere on his property or on a neighbour’s land. Maidenwell residents have been out looking for it, but with no success.
“What would happen if the cattle ran out in front of the Tanduringie school bus?” Max said.
“It could be a disaster.”
Max said the cattle were beautiful animals, Belted Galloways, and it was a shame they had been allowed to wander all around Maidenwell.
He believed they had escaped from a property on Copper Creek Road owned by an absentee landholder who was now overseas.
Max said they had previously knocked over and broken furniture in his yard, wrecked a Kentia palm and Lombardia pines.
“About 20 people have made complaints. Everyone’s been chasing them off,” he said.
Several local residents have also reported the wandering cattle to the South Burnett Regional Council and an officer has come out on several occasions.
“The man was out from Council that very day (of the accident) at 12 noon,” Max said.
“He told me he had been out six times in the last few months all over the Maidenwell area.”
Max said his car was a possible write-off, although he would not know for sure until the repairers had completed their final assessment.
However, he wanted to put in a big plug for his insurance company which he says have been extremely helpful to him.
“APIA have been absolutely obliging and extraordinary. They even gave me a replacement car to drive,” he said.
He’s now just hoping that something can be done about the cattle.
(Photo: Max Forsyth)
Why don’t the Council capture the cattle, take them to the Sale yards and hold and feed them until they can get hold of the owner???? Then issue the owner with a fine of $190 per animal plus feed and housing costs.