Rescue & Adoptions

2007 Featured Rescues

Discarded Dairy Calves Bounce Back from Neglect

Billy's the joker. Casey's laid back. And Phoenix is a real sweetheart-though a little on the stubborn side. It's sobering to think that just a few scant months ago they could've all been described using the same term: dead.

But these three calves got a shot at life, thanks to a Farm Sanctuary investigator who pulled them off of a truck bound for a slaughterhouse. Billy, Casey and Phoenix are all survivors of an industrialized dairy farm, discarded less than 24 hours after their birth.

Born weak and sickly, these male calves were useless to the farm. They could not produce milk. They could not produce high-grade meat. So they were shipped off to slaughter the day of their birth. It's a practice so common that it spawned the creation of a new cog in the factory farm machine: the "calf jockey." These transport truck drivers make the rounds from industrialized dairy to industrialized dairy, pulling ailing babies from the property and routing them straight to the slaughterhouse.

When Billy, Casey and Phoenix first arrived at our California Shelter, they were fighting to live. We rushed them to U.C. Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for immediate attention. All three needed to be tube fed, and Casey and Phoenix were suffering from contracted tendons, causing their front hooves to buckle under. Phoenix struggled to walk on his knees.

But under the attentive care of our shelter staff, the calves' fight to survive was a winning battle.

Billy and Casey both rebounded relatively quickly from their early troubles. After their major physical problems were resolved, the two could be found romping around the pasture and playing in the sunlight. They were eventually moved from the hospital to the rescue barn to be kept near Phoenix, who had a bit more difficulty bouncing back.

Phoenix continued to wear a splint on his right front leg well into February, until it was found swollen and painful one day. We took him to UC Davis' vet hospital where doctors discovered that the rigid splints used to correct his contracted tendons were causing the swelling on his right leg, as well as problems with his left. The areas were infected and immediately treated. Phoenix was also given a "toe extension," a device used to ensure that he lands fully on his right front leg, something the calf had not been doing.

Once released from UC Davis' vet hospital, Phoenix still kept a low profile at our shelter. The next month he was rechecked and found to be fit as a fiddle-and ready to join Billy and Casey in the pasture.

Later, Casey had some troubles of his own. We discovered an umbilical hernia this spring, which was treated by doctors at UC Davis. He also had an abscess from his neutering surgery. Casey was put on antibiotics to head off any potential infection. Today, he is healed and doing great.

All three are shaping up to be fine young steers. And we're excited to watch them continue growing and thriving-and defying a cruel industry that would rather see them die before they have a chance to live.

Update October 2007

Billy died suddenly and unexpectedly in the fall of 2007, stunning and saddening all of us. The young steer was a favorite among those who knew him; you couldn’t help but adore his bouncy and playful energy. We were heartbroken by his loss, and perplexed by its cause. Unfortunately, the doctors who treated him didn’t have firm answers. They could tell us that he died due to respiratory problems, but the cause of his condition remains unknown – though the horrendous ordeal Billy endured as a newborn likely affected his health even as he grew. Though short, Billy‘s life was full, marked by the companionship and affection he gave so freely to those around him.