While we were rescuing Thanksgiving turkeys from a local ranch in 2008, we couldn’t help but notice the horrific conditions in which the other animals were living.  Unable to stomach what we were witnessing, we came home with two of the ten cows who were in the worst shape and were pregnant.

When they got home to The Gentle Barn, one of the cows seemed inconsolably distraught.  She was trying to get out of the pen, pacing, sweating, and mooing as though screaming for someone.  Throughout the first night, she kept crying out, barely pausing to take a breath.

At first, we thought her stress was from missing all of the animals she had left behind, or from feeling unsure of her new surroundings.  But by morning, when her cries had not stopped, we realized something more serious was going on.  We also noticed that her utter was full now and she was expressing milk.  When we called back to the place we rescued her from, our fears were confirmed.  She had been separated from her calf, and we were informed that her baby was being sold that day to someone else for slaughter.  We demanded that they release the baby to us, knowing that this cow would die of heartbreak otherwise, and they agreed, especially because their truck had broken down and they couldn’t deliver the calf to the other people and we had a trailer…small miracles!

When we arrived at The Gentle Barn with the calf, his mom heard his voice, she jumped up and practically broke through the pasture fencing to get to her calf.  When we lead her tiny baby to reunite with her, the calf collapsed on the ground in front of her.  As she licked him and nuzzled him with the gentlest touch, he got up.  As the baby nursed, for the first time in twelve hours, the mom let out a long moo, like the biggest sigh of relief.  Now that her baby is with her, she has not made a single sound.  She is happy and at peace, and the two will never be separated again.

Once they were reunited, we went back and rescued the rest of the cows.  So now, all ten cows are safe and sound at The Gentle Barn.

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