A family from Mankota, Sask., says they lost 28 cattle to lightning last Friday. “It’s a big loss, but it could have been a lot worse,” Glen Briere told CBC’s Afternoon Edition. The Briere family was not at home in Mankota, about 270 kilometers southwest of Regina, when the lightning struck. They suspect the cattle were trying to escape the storm and came to the fence in their pasture where it happened. Among the dead were 14 cows, 13 calves and a herd leader. “I couldn’t believe because these cows had their heads on the fence or half their bodies were inside the fence,” he said. “One calf we found there was right through the fence pointing 40 feet to the other side. It dropped him in the middle.” The Briere family lost 28 cattle to lightning last week on their farm near Mankota, Sask. (Submitted by Darla and Glen Briere) Glenn said having his cattle in this condition was a tough pill to swallow. His wife, Darla Briere, said farming is always a risky business prone to losses. “But you never think you’re going to lose so much at once. It’s so shocking. Within a second, things can change like that,” he said. They had 160 cattle, so it was a “big cut” to lose 28 animals. “The 14 cows that are dead, they were all raised. We lost mothers and babies in them,” Darla said. “Moms left behind are looking for their babies, and babies left behind are looking for their moms. It affects the whole herd.” LISTEN | Darla and Glen Briere spoke with host Gath Materie on the evening edition: The Afternoon Edition – Sask8:34Family from Mankota Sask. lose nearly thirty of their cattle by lightning This summer has brought many storms to areas across the province. Some places have seen strong winds, tornadoes, hail, heavy rain and lightning. Glen Brier and his wife Darla returned home to find that 28 of their cattle had died because of a storm. Glenn and Darla joined the show to tell us more. He said the family was lucky to have insurance for the cattle, but the lost calves also mean they will be short of animals to sell next March. In addition to the financial hit, having to dig a hole and bury the animals took an emotional toll. “I was dragging them out of that awful fence into the hole. It was quite the foul smell.” Glen Briere said there were 14 cows, 13 calves and a herd sire dead along a fence in their pasture after lightning struck the fence. (Submitted by Chelsey Briere) This summer has brought many storms, strong winds and 15 tornadoes so far in Saskatchewan. Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist and director of lightning applications at Vaisala, an environmental standards company, said it detects 2.5 billion lightning strikes worldwide each year. Vagasky said there are five main ways lightning can kill or injure a person or animal, with direct lightning not always being common. “In this case, all the cattle were standing on the fence and the fence was struck by lightning,” Vagasky said. “The electric charge ran down the fence and hit each of the cattle standing on the fence and that’s called conduction.” Vagasky said animals are harmed by conduction relatively often around the world. “Any type of animal is at greater risk from lightning because its four legs are further apart than human legs,” he said. “When lightning strikes, it goes through one set of legs, crosses their body, and then exits through the other set of legs.” Vagaski said there has been a lot of lightning in the Meadows recently. “We’ve spotted thousands of lightning strikes in southern Saskatchewan just over the weekend when these cattle were killed,” he said. Vagasky said the high pressure system over the central United States plains and the Rockies is pushing storms further north into Canada, increasing lightning. He said 24,000 people are killed annually by lightning, with nearly 250,000 injured. He advised seeking shelter when a storm approaches. “When he roars, go inside.” He said not to touch any plumbing or anything attached to the wall when lightning strikes. “In general the risk of being struck by lightning is low, but the problems that come from lightning are very big.”
