How amazing this life is.
I’ve just spent the last two hours writing a blog and got all the way to the end, when something happened that made me realize what I was really writing about. And then I sat in silence and looked out my window and saw four glorious turkey hens walking through the leaves that have fallen in my yard. They were coming from the feeder I have for them out back and making their way to the sanctuary out in the woods where I have their water and a mineral lick.
Now, to tell this story….
I’ve been away from my blog for a while — choosing, instead, to focus my time on writing my novel. But today I was moved to reconnect with you good people, who share a love of animals, so I went looking for something to share.
I found it amidst my daily Google alerts on one of the subjects I follow, Cows. The headline read ”Drums Woman Spends Day in the Life of a Cow” and then a brief summary followed, The contest offers winners in each of the association’s six regions a 24-hour stay on a working dairy farm, where they were “treated like a cow” – a reference to the pampered life led by modern dairy cows.
OK, did I really see the word “pampered” referring to the lives of modern dairy cows?
Surely, this is one of those tongue-in-cheek articles, I was thinking. Surely, “pampered” couldn’t be used to describe dairy cows, whose babies are taken away from them almost immediately — the girls mostly used as replacement heifers for older mama cows, considered “used” or “empty” and sent off to slaughter after four, maybe five births, which the industry calls “lactation cycles.” But the fate of the boys can take two paths — either be a “bob veal” and put in a veal crate for four to five months and then slaughtered or their lives can be extended to thirteen or fourteen months and then be slaughtered for beef. Plus, according to the nation’s largest farm animal rescue organization, Farm Sanctuary (http://www.farmsanctuary.org), three out of four diary cows in America never get to graze in a pasture.
This is the frame of reference I brought to the article. I opened the link. http://standardspeaker.com/news/drums-woman-spends-day-in-the-life-of-cow-1.1221139#axzz1c0JIIhSS There, on the left side, was a photo of the winner, a woman sporting a nice orange hat and standing with two men, while words on the right talked about her being one of six essay winners of a “V.I.P. Dairy Farm Experience,” which allowed “them to be ‘treated like a cow’ – a nod to the modern comforts cows enjoy on the farms of today.”
Hello, World.
But take a look at this photograph. I found it on Facebook yesterday of a newborn calf, and I mean so newborn that he still is wet from birth. In his ear is a yellow tag, number 65. This is for the auction process that soon will take place. And you read above what his fate will be.
Pampered?
I think not.
Truth is….this gets me in my heart so much that I almost can’t stand to be in this world.
But here’s where that something that I was telling you about comes in. I contacted the woman who posted this photo, a woman I did not know and asked her if I could share her photograph on my blog. I noticed she had several photos of animals and that she and I shared a love for them. She wrote back within minutes with these words, Grazie per il contatto. Puoi e devi utilizzare tutte le foto che vuoi. ciao a presto. I found a translation online for her Italian and discovered she said this: Thanks for the contact. You can and you must use all the photos that you want. hello soon.
I saw where she lived in a place called Alpi. It’s the Italian word for Alps. I flew over them once, many years ago, and was stunned at their majesty.
This is when I looked out my window a while ago. Love has no barriers, including language or geography. This community of people who care for animals and their well-being spans this globe. One person here. Two people there. Earth-strong. The fact that this woman in the Italian Alps connected today with a woman in Tennesee, both of us fighting in our own way to better the lives of beings that have no voice, except ours.
And yours.
So, if you want a V.I.P.dairy farm experience, folks, just take a look at Malfalda’s photo. Number 65.
What a lovely story, about your connection with the woman in the Alps. It’s a wonderful thing that there is a network of people who love animals!
Lily, YES. My heart is moved. I feel the strength in a common core around this world.
So the contest winner wasn’t able to partipate in the rape experience, or the tearing her child away from her experience. Hmmm…looks like she missed out on lots of the more intense parts of being a dairy cow. No hormones? No antibiotics? Sort of sounds like this was a more of a blow-job than a day as a dairy cow.
The calf pictured represents only one of the billions of horrid tragedies we inflict on our fellow beings…shame on us.
Nice to hear about an animal lover in the Italian Alps, I spent 2 years stationed at the foot of the Alps in Italy (too many years ago to say) and it is indeed stunningly beautiful country…and apparently there are some beautiful people there too.
Yes, apparently some stunningly beautiful people there.
And, yes, shame on us.
Here’s hoping a global effort on behalf of the babies will do some good.
Made me cry. How can we be such a cruel people? I don’t understand it. I have friends who are hunters and I try not to be judgmental but I cannot stand the killing. My ex husband knew this. He took great delight in describing every awful detail of every deer slaughter he could find. He enjoyed my hurt and pain at the words and images. Then he would explode in anger and criticize me for not wanting to eat deer meat. It took me a while to transition to a Vegan but I am there and I am there to stay. All I have to do is remember my ex and remember this little one…a gift from God…slaughtered. sue
I cried, too, Sue. And I’ll continue to.
Bren, I join you w/cows grazing in pastures and being milked when they want to! Wonderful concept! Thank you for having such a caring heart! Only MY TWIN to focus on such caring things.I LOVE YOU LINDA the second twin
Thanks, Lin. You are my better half, for sure.
This contest to spend 24 hours being “pampered” like a cow? Certainly not the last 24 hours… Or the many, many hours on the way with all the horrors you accurately remind us of.
Too bad comments are closed for this article – But it’s nice that one poster was successful in calling the sham for what it is.
As to that photo – Heartwarming to know that in Alpi there is a gentle soul who sees the worth of life in the most forgotten victim. That little calf is who (over and over again) we are fighting for. Don’t worry 65 – We won’t let you down!