People come in all stripes - some compassionate and some not. The same can be true about vets too, though I believe the vast majority are compassionate. Here is the account of one who saved a calf's life.
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.
I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I've been a vegan for the past 30 years and I thank God every day that I am. I am most disturbed at how little the Catholic Church and Christian churches generally give to concern re animal suffering in their ministry. I wrote to 350 bishops in 2001 and only 10-13 responded. I feel that the very least they can do is to instruct that the priests give one sermon a year on compassion to animals. I am still waiting for that sermon. I also belong to Catholic Concern for Animals - founded in England in 1929. (They are on the internet) I recently sent a sample copy of their bi-monthly publication called the ARK to the 8 Catholic bishops of Ohio. Only ONE kindly responded. Somehow we have to reach the Christian teaching magisterium. There is next to nothing re animal concerns and compassion for them. They basically believe that animals are the lesser of God's creation and that gives us the right to do anything we want to them. Way wrong. We need to change their mindsets. The animals are God's first and He expects us to treat them compassionately.