Woman struck by cow at County Fair

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – On Tuesday, a pregnant cow went berserk at the Kalamazoo County Fair, knocking a woman to the ground.

Pam Moore was seriously injured, spent two days in the hospital and is now forced to wear a neck brace. Pam was with her husband and granddaughter, enjoying a Tuesday at the fair, when all of a sudden an angry cow came rushing at her from behind.

Newschannel 3 visited Moore in the hospital on Thursday.

The pregnant cow was being taken off a trailer at the fair to be a part of the miracle of birth exhibit, but when it saw all the people and heard them cheering, it started frantically searching for a way out, and it found one.

"All of a sudden I heard this commotion behind me," said Michael Moore, Pam's husband.

When Michael turned to see what was going on, he saw a cow charging at his family.

"I grabbed my granddaughter and threw her out of the way," said Michael, "Pam didn't realize what was going on."

Pam says she never saw the cow bearing down on her.

"Only thing I remember is getting hit and being on the ground, it's the only thing I remember," said Pam.

And even as paramedics tended to Pam, the cow was still on the loose.

"The cow kept wanting to come back towards me," said Pam.

The incident started as the cow was taken from a trailer to be part of the birthing exhibit. That popular exhibit brings in pregnant animals that are ready to give birth. After the birth, that animal leaves and another is brought in.

"We had a lot of spectators, they started to cheer that we were bringing in another animal," said Bonna Perrin, President of the Kalamazoo County Fair Board.

That cheering is what spooked the cow on Tuesday, which found a way out of the birthing area and started charging at fairgoers.

"We ended up getting a calf to lure her back to the trailer," said Perrin.

Perrin says there's now a new rule at the fair.

"It would be better for us to bring the animals in later in the evening, after dark, where there's not all the hype and cheering," said Perrin.

Meanwhile, Pam Moore is heading home in a neck brace. Her husband says she has a tear in her spinal cord and a compressed disc in her neck. Both of them are relieved that their four-year-old granddaughter didn't get hit.

"Go to something like the fair and figure you'll be safe, take the grandkids and have a near miss with your granddaughter and your wife," said Michael. "Kinda makes you not want to do those things anymore."

The Moore's are without health insurance and they have hired an attorney.

The fair organizers say their insurance company will not allow them to comment on anything related to the injury.