A Scartaglin farmer who attempted to block an escape attempt by an animal from Castleisland Co-Op Mart earlier today was taken to hospital in Tralee and remains there this evening.
The bullock made an attempt to get away from the yard of the mart and ran down Creamery Lane in the direction of the school.
Reaching the end of the cul-de-sac the animal turned and charged the 100 plus yards up towards the entrance to the mart again.
By now the man had pulled his jeep and trailer across the lane in an effort to halt the animal’s escape and divert it back onto the mart yard.
He left an open space on the footpath and manned this himself. It was this very space the animal eyed as its avenue of escape and the man in the gap got “a right wallop and was knocked out of the way,” according to an eye witness.
The man was later taken by ambulance to Kerry University Hospital where he remains this evening.
Apart from bruising, the man’s injuries are not believed to be serious and he’s expected to be released from hospital tomorrow. The animal was later brought under control nearby.
It’s yet another indication of the kind of danger and unpredictability involved in handling animals at home or away.
It’s also the kind which Michael Healy Rae, TD has been warning about since his narrow escape on the farm at home in Kilgarvan only a couple of weeks ago.
Deputy Healy Rae was helping a cow on his farm after she had calved and she turned on him and knocked him to the ground in an attack which came out of the blue.
