Moooove over homeowner: Cows invade house

Three cows busted into Latisha Francis' Pike County home, apparently after being scared by dogs.
Three cows busted into Latisha Francis' Pike County home, apparently after being scared by dogs.

PIKE CITY — Latisha Francis knew she would have a rough afternoon when she arrived at her Pike County home and saw a cow sticking its head out of her front door.

Once Francis moved past the cow in the doorway Monday, she found two more marauding bovines — one in the living room and one in the master bedroom.

The 1,400-pound animals had a tough time with the Francis’ wood floors. Their hooves kept slipping and when the beasts fell, they crushed piece after piece of furniture.

The cows butted their way into the home, apparently after being frightened by dogs that chased them after they got out of their enclosure.

Once inside, the cows got into a 50-pound bag of dog food. They compensated by leaving a wheelbarrow’s worth of manure behind.

“I was wanting to cry. But I thought, ’I can’t cry, I’ve got to get these cows out of my house.’ Besides, I had no place to sit,” Francis said.

The cow in the doorway seemed at ease, Francis said.

“She looked like she was welcoming us home. Her head was sticking out of the doorway and her body was inside the house,” Francis said.

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Courtesy Pike County Sheriff's Department

Francis and her sons, Billy Joe Francis, 17, and Ben Francis, 12, tied a rope to a pickup and to the living room cow’s hind legs to drag her out of the house.

“The wood flooring came in handy to let us slide and drag her across the floor,” Francis said. But the process took about 90 minutes.

Francis also summoned the Pike County sheriff’s office.

“It looked like a bomb had gone off inside the house,” Sheriff Howard Cannon said.

Cannon said the cows left little doubt how they got in the house.

“The cows either kicked or head butted the door. It was shattered. They got up on the concrete porch and it looked like an NFL lineman had hit it and broke the door frame,” Cannon said.

Francis called her insurance company about the cow damages, but her policy does not cover nuisance animal damage.

“I’ve developed a sense of humor about this. Cows were in the house. Furniture was upside down and on the other side of the living room. We probably have $20,000 worth of damage. The insurance doesn’t want to pay. I could cry, give up or laugh about it and go on and make the best of it,” she said.

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