Council to investigate after cow escapes from Warrnambool saleyards

Leading Senior Constable Adrian Polman, of Warrnambool police, said the cow damaged a couple of cars - one of them on the road - and ended up a number of kilometres away.

Police were called to help capture the animal and they were able to corner it in a paddock, but unfortunately it had to be put down.

"The cow was running amok along the river along Membery Way," Leading Senior Constable Polman said.

"It just got a bit agitated when it was being unloaded from the truck and it's done a runner."

He said no people were injured.

A Warrnambool City Council spokesperson said they were reviewing the incident.

"There are existing accepted processes in place to manage the delivery and movement of cattle at the yards," the council said.

"Council staff and the police worked quickly to pursue and contain the cow which unfortunately had to be euthanised."

The saleyards is in line for a major upgrade, with the council allocating $2.56 million in last year's budget, but works are yet to start.

The bill for all work needed at the site has been estimated at up to $3.5 million and comes after a concrete walkway collapsed at the site in October 2020.

A report on the saleyards has been submitted to the council, but it will not be publicly released because the council said it contained "market sensitive intelligence".

That report was expected to provide direction to the council as to the extent of development needed at the yards.

Cr Ben Blain said no decision had yet been made on the saleyards.

Cr Blain was last week appointed the new chair of the council's saleyards committee - a change in policy for the facility that was made possible after a vote on Monday to change the terms of reference.

Cr Max Taylor said the move allowed for good governance of the committee and brought it in line with the majority of other council advisory committees and reference groups.

Mayor Richard Ziegeler said he was pleased to have Cr Blain as the chairman and his skills in the area made him a particularly good choice.

Last financial year, the facility made $210,000 profit while drawing in $1.19 million in user fees to council coffers - a slight drop on the previous year's user fees of $1.3 million.

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