Cow Carcass Lies Near Biograd for Eight Days
Field owner Dragan Vukoja spent days calling all relevant services without success. Only after media coverage, including BBC interest, was the calf rescued and taken for a veterinary examination.
Field owner Dragan Vukoja spent days calling all relevant services without success. Only after media coverage, including BBC interest, was the calf rescued and taken for a veterinary examination.
For eight days now, in an area not far from Biograd na Moru, the carcass of a dead cow has been lying and decomposing in the tall grass. Throughout this time, a small calf has been circling its body, creating a heartbreaking and alarming scene that the relevant services, despite numerous calls, have failed to address.
Dragan Vukoja from Pakoštane, the owner of the field next to which the cow died, spoke about the whole case for RTL Danas. He recounted how the cow and calf, left without any supervision or water, appeared near his crops almost a month ago. Although the cow damaged his vegetables, he considers that a minor issue.
"The cow was eating vegetables around, it damaged my chard, parsley, and carrots. That's a minor problem," said Vukoja. A much bigger problem arose when the animal died. "It got to the point where there was no water, and temperatures are high. It had to find water on something green. It died in agony," he described the moments before its death.
On July 11, 2026, Vukoja first called the police. They came to the scene and assessed the damage but told him that a stray cow was not within their jurisdiction and referred him to the Communal Inspection Service of the City of Biograd na Moru. Two days later, he contacted the inspection service, where they explained that they could not handle the animal, but that the veterinary inspection should do so, and referred him to report the case to the Inspectorate in Zadar.
"I did that a day later, but since then, no one from the Inspectorate has contacted me," said a visibly frustrated Vukoja. He added that he wonders whether the responsible institutions are doing their jobs at all. In the meantime, he also contacted animal protection societies but was disappointed by them as well. "For them, this is not an animal. They have cats, poodles, guinea pigs. They receive money from the county and the state, but they don't care about a little calf. What are they for?" he asked.
After the cow died, Vukoja continued calling all services, including the emergency number 112, but no one responded. He personally gave water to the surviving calf, which stayed by the carcass in the unbearable heat. "I called 112, all services. No one responds. I give the calf water; if I weren't here, it would have died too. This is a tragedy for the Croatian state. It will be a nice advertisement for Croatia, that a carcass sits for eight days and no one picks it up," he said.
He also sharply criticized local authorities for their complete inaction. "They don't react-they could have called the fire department or the communal service to at least temporarily remediate it. Nothing, nothing, they don't care," said Vukoja. He pointed out that the deputy mayor of Biograd sent two people to catch the calf, but they failed even after two days. He summed up the whole situation with the words: "No one cares, a severe shame!"
Vukoja claims he knows who owns the animals and that the man even threatened him. When he approached him, the owner told him it was not his jurisdiction and asked why he was bothering him. Due to the unpleasant smell and fear of infection, other owners of surrounding fields are currently unable to work their land. The news about the neglected animals and the inertia of institutions resonated so much that Vukoja was also contacted by the BBC for a statement.
The story finally got a happy ending on Saturday, August 9, 2026, after HRT reported on it. According to information from HRT journalist Ante Kolanović, the calf was rescued and taken to Pakoštane. There, according to unofficial information, locals took it for a veterinary examination, ending the animal's days-long ordeal.
