If you love animals as I do, you will enjoy the accounts re them found on
Care2. This morning I read such a beautiful post re Luna the calf which the dairy
industry wanted to kill -that I thought I should share it. Abigail Greer wrote
about her on Care 2.
I think many of you like me- love especially new-born animals. Sadly, the
farming industry sees them only from a utilitarian perspective. Luna was born
prematurely, and at four days old, she was determined to be a liability because her
mother had a common disease found in cattle which can cause abortion. And since this
disease can be passed on from infected cows to their fetuses, the owner decided
not to risk caring for her only to find out later that she would be unable to produce
milk. The ugly dollar sign rearing its ugly head again. Yes, I know it's a business,
but is there
no place for compassion in a business?
As is customary from the very first day of birth, she was separated from
her mother and placed in a room with a chain around her neck. What's the chain for?
She can't run away -- barely able to stand now. How can people be so insensitive to
treat her this way? Again -easy where the dollar sign is the only motivating
factor. I feel sorry for people like this. They must have hard hearts to be so uncaring.
Well, one good thing to speak in their favor -- even though they wanted her
dead -- they wouldn't clobber her to death as I have heard is almost standard procedure
in some cafos when they want to rid themselves of sick animals. In some pig cafos-
sick piglets are tossed around like footballs or worse to kill them. As for the
millions of unwanted male chicks -many of them are put through a grinding machine. It
surprises me that when some people read cruelty like this, it doesn't deter them
from buying
pork or chicken.
Now the wonderful part -- the vet who was called to put her down -- saw that
she was a happy, healthy calf. No, instead of killing her, he called the Mino
Valley Farm Sanctuary. Shades of the wonderful Dr. Herriot -- wouldn't you say? And what surprised
me too was that he said he looked into her beautiful BLUE eyes and knew he couldn't
put her down.
Blue eyes? I thought all cows have brown eyes. At a Catholic boarding
school in my last year of high school, I would visit the barn where calves were kept on
the property. Obviously, I never got too close to these beautiful creatures to see the
color of their eyes. And little did I know then- but the nuns would have them slaughtered for
their special guests. Ugh. Sadly, I've never been impressed by "religious" people who
seem not to have compassion for animals and eat them when today it obviously is not a
necessity.
I happily learned though that at least one Catholic priest is a vegetarian
-- Fr. Mann. It gives me hope that one day more will join his ranks. And some of us
hope Pope Francis will become vegetarian too, but I learned he has a fondness for chicken.
I'm sure he is aware of the horrible chicken batteries from hell- so he disappoints. I
know he can't be all things to all men, but for Catholics like me who are either vegetarian
or vegan, we
hope one day he will join our compassionate ranks.
ONE HAPPY CALF
The kind caregivers of Mino Valley Farm Sanctuary were just spreading a
fresh bale of straw for the rescued calf when a car horn signaled her arrival. Still
wobbly, she looked a little bewildered at first. And why not? She was only a baby. To the
the people welcoming her- they saw her as the sweetest girl they had ever seen. (I
think all baby calves are the sweetest boys or girls we will ever see.)
They decided to call her Luna as it was getting dark and she would be the
symbol of light for all abused calves. Her first days were hard for her until she
found a new best friend with one of the resident lambs. She has since thrived. While her story is wonderful, the writer reminds us that we must remember
that there are millions of calves born into the dairy industry who will never know her
happiness. They are destined to endure the horrors associated with the production of
milk for human consumption. I can't believe that anyone would be so cruel as to put
the boy calves in tight crates where they can't turn around. Why hasn't
Congress forbade
this cruelty? Obviously it is not important to them.
Hopefully, her story will change some hearts and lives and they will join
us in realizing that they can live without milk or dairy. I personally have been using soy
or almond milk since 1983. Do I miss it? No, and I can smile when I see a rescued calf
like Luna and tell her -- If I had my way, there would be no more cow and calf
cruelty.
COMMENTS
I think we all enjoy reading the comments following posts such as this
one. Many are worth copying, but I think Moira's was especially beautiful and
timely:
"A million thanks to the fantastic vet who saved this little lass's life.
She is a little sweetheart and if this is what goes on in the dairy industry, it is
disgusting. Every animal deserves a chance. They are just born and need their mum. Everything
revolves around money. If an animal doesn't look worth it..destroy it. The mother would
miss her calf and no one would care about her loss. I hope little Luna has a terrific
life and lives for many moons. Congratulations every one involved. But, we must all try to
stop this horrible practice in the future."
Thanks Moira -- so beautifully said. If only the world at large would read
your thoughts and see the compassionate truth in them. And thanks to Abigail for this wonderful post. So many I read are full of
cruelty to
animals. This is indeed a refreshing one to read.
1
1
1
