UPDATE: Tormented Cow From Yesterday

Yesterday, I was appalled by the way the hosts of NBC’s Today Show were entertained by a cow who was wandering the streets of Queens and had been roped and tugged to the ground. She was distraught and being manhandled on national television, and all that was somehow fodder for jokes.

Tricia forwarded an Emergency Alert from Farm Sanctuary (note: not abolitionist–please don’t write me) which included:

Late last night, a frightened cow was spotted wandering the streets of New York City … she had likely just escaped from a nearby live market or slaughterhouse in Queens … and was literally running for her life.

During the night, police and firefighters were able to capture her and take her to New York City Animal Care & Control – where she is currently being held.

She had a tag in her ear indicating she was either sold or to be sold, likely for slaughter. Halal butchers, live markets and slaughterhouses proliferate in the city’s five boroughs, and escapees from these facilities are not uncommon. At live markets, customers select from chickens, goats, cows, sheep and turkeys, who are then killed on the premises.

Maxine saved her own life, and now we need your help to fund the emergency rescue effort to bring her to safety.

Farm Sanctuary is in need of donations right now to help send a rescue team, equipped with a large animal transport trailer, hay and medical supplies, as well as lifelong sanctuary care for her and other brave survivors of the food animal industry.

Maxine is a sweet, gentle cow, who only wants to live.

With your help, she will never again know the stress and fear of a live market or slaughterhouse.

She will be safe in a warm, cozy barn with a new herd of cattle friends, and have Farm Sanctuary’s 175 acres of sanctuary pasture to roam. She will receive delicious apple treats, fresh food and water, a complete veterinary assessment, vaccines, and any medical treatments she needs.

She is being held in a small fenced pen at Animal Care & Control, and at this moment is nervous and frightened in strange surroundings. We are eager to bring her to our shelter, where she’ll hear the welcoming “moos” of the sanctuary herd and know that she is safe from harm forever.

Please, make a donation to the MAXINE RESCUE FUND today to help create a happy ending for this beautiful, sweet girl. Please call 607-583-2225 to donate now, send checks to Farm Sanctuary, PO Box 150, Watkins Glen, NY 14891, or click here to donate online.

Maxine was named this morning in honor of artist Peter Max and his wife and activist Mary Max, bovine rescuers who helped bring a Cincinnati slaughterhouse escapee to our shelter in 2002. Maxine is the second cow to come to our shelter from Queens, but this year alone Farm Sanctuary has taken in more than 100 animals from New York City, many from live markets.

Maxine is an ambassador for all farm animals, sending a clear message that they have feelings and a will to live. Thank you for helping Maxine, and all farm animals to live the life they each deserve.

Thanks for the update, Tricia.