Cow ‘Cries’ All Night After Calf Was Almost Sold Off. When They Reunite, She Loses It

(Illustration - Shutterstock)

From the archives: This story was last updated in June 2019.

As human beings, we often like to think of ourselves as being very special compared to other animals, especially where intelligence and emotions are concerned. But to think that we are the only mammals who can feel love and affection from our friends and family is just plain wrong.

A story from The Gentle Barn, an animal shelter based in Santa Clarita, California, which provides homes for abused animals that otherwise wouldn’t have a home, shows that cows feel the loss of their children just as much as we do.

The story began with Karma, an adult female cow that the organization had rescued from living with an abusive owner, a backyard butcher, where “she had no food, water, shelter, and endured enormous stress,” as they posted on their Facebook. Once Karma arrived at The Gentle Barn, its staff members hoped that she would soon recover in a safe and loving environment.

However, even after her rescue, Karma seemed incredibly distressed, much to their surprise. As they wrote on their website: “We thought that she would eventually settle down, after all she had clean water, fresh food, and shelter, however, she never did. Karma cried incessantly all night long.”

While no one slept very well that night, as soon as the sun was up, founders Ellie Laks and Jay Weiner went down to check on her. What they saw shocked them. She was dripping with milk and calling out desperately. When her cruel owner had turned her over to the rescuers, he had hidden the existence of her baby!

When the Laks contacted the man, he claimed that he had already sold the calf to someone else for a Christmas dinner. The butcher’s truck was broken down, which gave them the time they needed to make the rescue. Jay Weiner drove over to the place as quickly as he could and made the butcher a bargain—fixing his truck in exchange for the calf. Weiner did it and got the baby back!

Sure enough, Weiner managed to fix the truck and get Karma’s baby back, who by this point was collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration, as he hadn’t had his mother’s milk in 24 hours. Weiner rushed back to the Gentle Barn, knowing mom and son needed to be reunited as soon as possible.

As Laks wrote on their website: “When Karma heard her son’s small voice from inside the trailer, Karma started trying to smash in the fence or climb over it, bellowing to him all the while.” Meanwhile, the calf keep fainting from fatigue and excitement. When mother and son were finally reunited, there wasn’t a dry eye on the internet.

Little did Laks and Weiner know, but their video of the touching scene would go on to get over 6 million views on YouTube. They used Karma’s story to inform people about cruelty toward these loving animals.

“In the ’real' world, these scenes of family and happy births don’t usually happen. In the dairy industry, calves are taken away from their moms as soon as they are born, as moms scream and cry,” Laks wrote on their website.

Thankfully, Karma had been reunited with her little boy, whom the rescuers named Mr. Rojas. Several months later, one of their staff members noted that Karma’s udders were swollen and thought she might be pregnant! Sure enough, she gave birth to a calf shortly after, called, appropriately enough, Surprise!

As Laks explained on their website, “When we rescue [animals] already pregnant, they get to raise their babies and live in families, like they deserve.” Since that time, Karma and her sons lived happily together with the rest of the herd.

While the Gentle Barn did everything they could, both of Karma’s sons had health problems and died a few years ago. As the Gentle Barn wrote: “Karma was there when both her sons passed away, with the entire bovine family encircling them, she whispered in their ears that she loved them and it was okay to go.”

A touching goodbye for a mother who never stopped loving her children.