It is a scene of desolation.

A dozen of Cyril Malartigue's cows are lying on the ground.

On Saturday, they were struck down in one of the meadows of this young farmer in Bouillac in the Dordogne.

Even if this is not a first, this kind of event remains extremely rare.

This Monday morning, Cyril Malartigue begins to get his head out of the water after a few complicated hours with his animals.

He returns for

20 Minutes

on this unfortunate episode.

What has happened ?

In the evening of Saturday, because of the thunderstorms, part of my herd of Blondes d'Aquitaine and Limousine took shelter in a grove rather than returning under their shelter.

They like to go there.

The problem was, lightning struck an oak tree in the grove and they were literally struck down on the spot.

I lost four cows and six calves.

It's a disaster.

We had never seen that.

The bark of the tree split over several tens of centimeters at the level of the trunk, which is to say the violence of lightning.

The shock must have been significant for you at the time ...

I admit that Sunday was complicated.

It's a real blow even if today, things are a little better.

We know that there is a risk when the animals are on pasture, but we will not bring in the animals every time a thunderstorm is forecast.

We are not used to this kind of thing in the area.

After no matter the size of the animal, when you are struck down… I guess they didn't suffer but it's really not easy to see that.

We are a little in shock.

Does this represent a loss consequence for the breeding?

Of course there is an economic loss on the animals but it is especially difficult to live on the human level.

They are animals that are raised all year round with a lot of love so to see them in this summer, it hurts.

For the operating loss, the expert must quickly pass and I hope that the insurance will follow.

I think so.

Reunion: 24 cows killed simultaneously by lightning

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Lightning strikes a field in Chile: 55 cows killed

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  • Aquitaine

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