must read story asap

[Guest guest]

Farm Sanctuary has just rescued a group of newborn calves who were

severely neglected at dairy farms and are now fighting for their

lives.

 

The male calves, too sick to be raised for meat, were on a calf

dealer's truck - bound for slaughter, just hours after being born.

The dealer was taking certain calves to calf ranches to be raised,

and others (the sicker, smaller ones) to be slaughtered.

 

Farm Sanctuary negotiated their rescue, and drove the sick calves

immediately to U.C. Davis Veterinary Hospital for urgent care and

then to our California Shelter's hospital facility.

 

The calves remain in critical condition. Torn from their mothers

immediately after birth, these calves did not receive vital nutrients

and antibodies from the mother's milk in the first hours of life -

making survival an uphill battle.

 

Weak and lethargic, two of the calves needed to be tube fed because

they could not eat on their own.

 

Two are suffering from contracted tendons, causing their front hooves

to buckle under and preventing them from walking or standing. One

calf was struggling to walk on his knees. Farm Sanctuary's health

care staff is working to correct the condition with leg splints - to

help them stretch and heal the tendons.

 

A fourth " downer " calf was discarded at a stockyard, and also

released to a Farm Sanctuary investigator. He was rushed to the

hospital immediately, suffering from a systemic infection and in dire

need of care. He had every fighting chance - at U.C. Davis Veterinary

hospital, he was given a blood plasma transfusion, placed on I.V.

fluids and monitored around the clock. Sadly, this calf had not

received the care he needed in his first days of life, and was taken

from his mother far too early. Despite receiving the best care

possible at the hospital he passed away.

 

As you can tell, these orphaned calves need extensive veterinary care

to survive in these first days of life. Intensive care for large

animals is extremely costly - and their needs will be ongoing.

 

That's why we are writing to ask you to please make a donation right

now to provide urgent care for these otherwise helpless calves.

 

Your donation will fund their emergency care, and through your

support, you will be with these sweet, gentle calves all along the

way of their recovery. Your gift will provide:

 

Urgent and continuing veterinary care

 

Vaccines

 

Antibiotics, other medicines and supplies

 

Milk replacer

 

Feed

 

Bedding

 

Neuter surgeries

YOUR DONATION TO HELP THE CALVES

To contribute, please click here, call 607-583-2225 ext. 221, or mail

a check as soon as you can to Farm Sanctuary, PO Box 150, Watkins

Glen, NY 14891.

 

Sadly, the suffering these calves endured occurs on a daily basis.

For a dairy cow to produce milk, she must have a baby calf. These

calves are taken from their mothers immediately after birth, and in

intensive dairy production areas of the U.S., the newborns are picked

up by " calf jockeys " who drive their trucks from dairy to dairy

collecting the calves. Calf jockeys take the healthiest calves

to " calf ranches, " which house thousands of newborn animals - " fresh "

calves as the industry refers to them - in three foot wide wooden

crates. The females are raised to replace worn out cows on dairy

farms, and males are raised for beef or veal. The calf jockey takes

the sicker calves directly to slaughter, and many are killed on the

same day they are born. These frail calves, by-products of industrial

dairy production, are weak and have difficulty standing. They are

impatiently dragged by their legs and pushed, and cruelly handled

during transport and slaughter. In their short, miserable lives, they

never know human kindness.

 

Thankfully, for this group of calves, you can help create a different

ending to that story.

 

With your help today, they will receive all the care they need, and

once their condition has stabilized, they will go on to live long,

happy lives at sanctuary.

 

 

 

 

Farm Sanctuary is the nation’s leading farm animal protection

organization. Since incorporating in 1986, we have worked to expose

and stop cruel practices of the “food animal†industry through

research and investigations, legal and legislative actions, public

awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge

efforts. Our shelters in Watkins Glen, NY and Orland, CA provide

lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become

ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about

the realities of factory farming. For more information about Farm

Sanctuary or our programs, please visit farmsanctuary. org or call

607-583-2225. To become a Farm Sanctuary member or to make a donation

today using our secure online form, please For updates on

previous action alerts, please

 

Please forward and distribute widely! Thank you