Our Lovely Cow Herd

Honey

Honey came to us when she was ten months old, having been separated from her mother at birth, and spending her life in a barn. She was part of a 4H program, but her former person couldn’t bear to send her to auction and inevitable slaughter. On her first day here, she was so excited by an open field that she ran away faster than we could get a camera on her, charging back and forth like an excited puppy.

She got into a lot of trouble when she was a teenager, such as chewing on the charging cable for an electric car and sampling everything on the clothesline. Fortunately, she has matured into a very well behaved adult!

Honey is incredibly friendly and inquisitive. One of the ways she shows her inquisitive nature is to lick you, and if you think cats have a rough tongue, it’s nothing compared to hers. Honey knows her name and loves to receive scratches from her human friends. She spends her days grazing on the hills with the rest of the herd.

Approximate Birthdate: 7/1/19

Arrived Home: 5/1/20

Luke & Leia

Luke and Leia are an adorable pair of twins. When a male and female are born at the same time, the female is called a freemartin, which means she will be sterile (unable to get pregnant.) In the dairy industry, freemartins and males calves are considered useless and are sold for veal. Luckily, another sanctuary rescued Luke and Leia from the dairy industry and fostered them until we were able to welcome them to our sanctuary. Honey was overjoyed to have cow friends and the three of them bonded right away! Luke and Leia absolutely love people and all the other animals at the sanctuary. They are incredibly sweet and outgoing and walk right up to visitors! They both enjoy giving kisses with their giant, scratchy tongues and receiving all kinds of fruits and vegetables as treats.

Approximate Birthdate: 8/1/19

Arrived Home: 6/1/20

Sparky

Sparky was born on a beef farm the day the Kincade fire started and was severely burned. 

A nice couple took him in about 12 days later to care for his burns and bottle feed him. He always allowed them to put burn ointment on his injuries and cut away the dead skin. Even though he was experiencing pain and discomfort from his burns, he showed his desire to live and be loved every day. After a few months, he was healed enough to leave the barn and explore the yard.

Sparky came to live with us when his cow friend passed away and he was lonely. His rescuers miss him and check on him regularly, but they are happy to know that he quickly bonded with the rest of our herd and has many friends now. He was a bit shy with people when he first arrived, but he is very trusting of us now and loves attention!

It’s sad to look at pictures of his previous burns and see the scars that remain, but it’s inspiring to see what he overcame. Also, it’s ironic that being in a fire ended up saving his life. If he didn’t have injuries that the cattle rancher didn’t want to deal with, he would have been slaughtered at 1-2 years of age for beef. Now, he is free to live out his natural life with friends and plenty of room to roam.

Approximate Birthdate: 10/23/19

Arrived Home: 1/20/22

Barbara & Bodhi

Barbara was rescued from a cattle rancher by a nice woman. She asked if Barbara could come live with us because the cattle rancher was being evicted and there was concern he would hurt Barbara as retaliation. Barbara is very shy, but is slowly learning to trust us. In the meantime, she loves the company of all the other cows.

Barbara’s Approximate Birthdate: 5/1/20

Arrived Home: 1/15/22

Barbara was pregnant when she arrived at our sanctuary and gave birth on 2/26/22. Unfortunately, her calf died during birth. It was suspected that the cattle rancher had purposely bred Barbara to a larger breed cow so she would have problems giving birth.

Right after this traumatic event, Tommy's Transport Team let us know about a calf they liberated the previous day from a dairy farm. Typical of the dairy industry, the calf had been removed from his mother at birth and slated for veal. We named this baby Bodhi and picked him up from Herd & Flock Animal Sanctuary, where he was being bottle fed after he was rescued. After rubbing the placenta from Barbara’s birth on Bodhi, we introduced the two. After a few minutes, Bodhi started nursing and Barbara adopted him as her own. They are now inseparable.

Bodhi’s Birthdate: 2/25/22

Arrived Home: 2/26/22