It’s been a bad week for cattle. Last week, 164 neglected cattle seized from a Columbia County ranch. Then there was reporter Richard Cockle’s sad story about the cattle casualties of the Long Draw fire in Southeastern Oregon.
That’s why we were happy to read this story that the folks at the Humane Society of the United States shared with us recently.
More than 20 years ago, Medford resident Betty Decker received a unique Valentine’s Day gift: a two-week-old calf named Maggie, who at that time was the size of a dog.
Decker, 88, kept Maggie in her backyard, away from the rest of the herd on her nine-acre farm.
“She played around the yard just like the rest of the dogs,” Decker says. “I had a little doggie door on the house. One day the dog came through, the cat came through, and what do you know—Maggie came through! I took her back outside. I knew she was going to get big, and I couldn’t have her in the house!”
That was a wise choice on Decker’s part. Maggie now weighs in at more than 1,500 pounds, and her son Bubba weighs more than a ton.
Decker says the two cows were her “backyard pets.” She pampered them by brushing them every day and feeding them timothy grass and clover.
But Decker realized recently that she’s no longer able to care for Maggie and Bubba.
“I just love them and hated to let them go,” she says. “Before I left this world, I wanted a good place for them where they could live the rest of their lives out together.”
She turned to Farm Sanctuary, which looked to Scott Beckstead, HSUS Oregon senior state director to help.
Beckstead looked for someone who could adequately care for the elderly, expansive creatures.
Lucky for the cows, animal lovers Ingrid Gram and Sky Ironplow stepped up.
The pair has 10 acres of pasture on their Sutherlin farm, and they have previous experience fostering horses and caring for other rescue animals.
On July 18, Beckstead transported Maggie and Bubba to their new home two hours away.
It took less than a day for Ironplow to hand-feed Bubba some alfalfa.
“They are amazingly gentle and they enjoy being petted,” Ironplow says. “You can tell they’ve been handled all their lives.”
This past week, Gram and Ironplow added another friend for Maggie, Bubba and their brood.
A piglet named Truffles was found in Colorado after falling out of a commercial truck bound for slaughter.
A network of animal advocates led Truffles to Beckstead, who placed her in safety on the Sutherlin farm.
–Monique Balas
Source:
http://valentine.blog7up.com/2012/07/30/elderly-womans-beloved-cows-find-new-home-on-sutherlin-farm/