Shoes for cows: World Ag Expo vendor has the latest in hoofwear
It’s the final day of the World Ag Expo in Tulare, which draws more than 100,000 visitors over its three-day run and has benefited from unseasonably warm weather. Vendors say they have enjoyed large crowds.
Mike Brimble, project manager for Moowell, is one of those vendors. The British company makes cow shoes.
Yes, shoes for cows.
Although the bovine hoofwear come in bright colors, they are designed to be more practical than fashionable.
“They are nice colors, though,” Brimble said.
The shoe is made of plastic with a wooden block as the sole. It functions like a crutch when part of the cow’s hoof is ailing, allowing it to heal. A cow’s hoof has two separate claws and when one is injured, the shoe is glued to the good one.
I found some cow shoes. #WAE16 pic.twitter.com/p0jgQUcN7V
— Bob Rodriguez (@FresnoBeeBob) February 10, 2016
The product was an award winner in Brimble’s native England. He said it won a dairy innovation competition sponsored by the royal family.
“We went to Buckingham Palace and met Prince Phillip himself,” Brimble said. “Now we just need the U.S. dairymen to take a look at what we have.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Shoes for cows: World Ag Expo vendor has the latest in hoofwear."