You hear sirens and see first responders hurrying to a traffic accident and the first hope is that no one is seriously injured. But this is not a typical traffic accident. It’s a tractor trailer hauling upwards of 50,000 pounds of livestock—in many cases cattle—with each weighing between 400 to 1200 pounds. And it’s turned on its side. Cattle are trapped on top of one another. Some have escaped the wreckage and are wandering aimlessly in and around the disaster and out into the road.
Bedford County’s Emergency Management Director Kent Robey said that an accident of this nature hasn’t occurred in recent years in Bedford and Franklin Counties. But if one should, having a team that is ready to respond to protect both the people and animals involved is critically important.
To better prepare local emergency responders for these circumstances, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation hosted Bovine Emergency Response Plan training at Spring Lake Stockyard in Moneta on May 6…