A bull scratched itself against an electricity pole and cut the power to two villages, leaving around 800 homes without electricity for several hours. Ron is the bull in question, and his owner has already apologised to the neighbours. A thoroughly random story.
Hazel Laughton, Ron’s owner, took to social media after the incident and explained it with a certain amount of humour. “Our bull Ron would like to apologise to everyone in Chapelton and Strathaven for causing the power cuts last night that affected 700 houses. His backside was itchy, he scratched it on an electricity pole and hit the transformer box. He is happy to be alive this morning after 11,000 volts and a lump on the head. I think we are going to rename him ‘Sparky’,” she wrote on Facebook, alongside a photo of him.
It is a true story, and it has happened before
It sounds like a joke, so here is the owner’s actual Facebook post as evidence. In fact it is fairly common for a bull to cut the power to a village in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America.
This particular one happened in Scotland.
Somebody has invented a spa for cattle
It sounds unlikely, but a farmer in the United States did exactly that. Not, mind you, with hot tubs or thermal baths.
What he did was fit rollers to the posts already standing around the field, so that the animals could rub against them and scratch their backs. As the video shows, they understood the idea immediately and made full use of it.
A very good idea for the animals’ wellbeing.
The answer to the bull and the electricity pole: rather better accommodation
Another farmer, this time in Guadarrama in Spain, has gone further and set his animals up in something close to luxury.
He rebuilt parts of the farm: individual water or felt beds, pillows, showers that are actually pleasant, fans. He even added classical music — Mozart at milking time, so that the cows relax and the whole thing goes more naturally.
A small revolution on one farm, with a single aim: better lives for the animals.
