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Mini cows 'are not pets'

00:00, 21 August 2008

updated: 15:59, 02 May 2019

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Caroline Tarrant and Alex Richards and some of their Dexter cows
Caroline Tarrant and Alex Richards and some of their Dexter cows

Mini cows are said to be the latest middle class craze, with people buying them in reaction to rising food prices.

A national newspaper article suggested that the cows, costing about £500 each, could be kept in the back garden to both mow the lawn and feed a family.

Mini cows are actually dexters, a hardy mountain breed from Ireland and have long been farmed in Kent.

The Farrant family, who have a smallholding in Brabourne, are keen to stress mini cows are not pets and definitely not suitable to be kept in the back garden.

“They are perfect for a smallholder who has a few acres; maybe they’ve got horses and too much grass but they are livestock and they’ve got to be treated as cattle.

“They are definitely not pets,” said Caroline Farrant, who is a vet.

Ownership of dexters has doubled since 2000 but it seems the national press articles were more a product of the “silly season” and less of a revolutionary idea for a new family pet.

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