After a deadly cow attack on a German tourist in Austria, a farmer must pay the survivors compensation. The district court of Innsbruck has awarded the husband and son of the victim a total of around 180,000 euros. In addition, the farmer must pay the man a monthly pension of 1200 euros and the son of 350 euros, the court said.
The judges believed that the farmer had not adequately warned about the dangers of a herd of cows growing up calves. The posted warning signs were not enough. "At a critical point such as the accident fences to protect the highest good, human life, necessary and due to the low cost also reasonable," said the court.
The 45-year-old dog owner from Rhineland-Palatinate was trampled to death in summer 2014 in the Tyrolean Stubai Valley by the herd of cattle, who apparently wanted to protect the calves from the dog.
The woman had fixed the dog leash with a carabiner around the waist. She should have heard, according to the court, that suckler cows can react aggressively to dogs. It had been careless to fix the dog so that he could not be released immediately. "The probability of an immediate attack was due to the other behavior of the casualty but very low," said the court.
The prosecution had closed the criminal investigation against the farmer in 2014.