MP's demands answers after herd of cows shot dead at Chirk

An MP has written to a council expressing her concerns after a herd of cows was shot dead in front of residents after they escaped from a field near Oswestry.

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones said she had been contacted by several constituents about the incident in Chirk on Friday afternoon and has contacted Wrexham County Borough Council.

About 30 cows were killed by marksmen who were called in over a 'humane welfare issue' in a joint operation by the council's trading standards officers and the police.

After the destruction of the herd the council wrote to Mr John Pierce of Ley Farm, whose company, North West Aero Engineering, owns the cows saying the opinion of a vet was that they were malnourished.

Mr Pierce maintains that his family has spent thousands of pounds on feed for the animals during the winter.

Today Miss Elan Jones said she had written to Aled Roberts, leader of the unitary authority, over the shooting.

She said: "I find it hard to understand why the cows could not have been rounded up and returned to their farms, instead of shot, especially in full view of the public."