Becoming free at The Cow Sanctuary — #govegan #scarydairy

One of the really wonderful about my vegan journey is my connection to the animals–cows in particular. I always loved cows but didn’t become a vegan until after a bad medical experience four years ago. Before then I used to take walks in the countryside and communicate with the cows, telling them that I refused to eat them. But I still ate dairy which is often referred to as “scary dairy” in the vegan world.

In addition to being linked to numerous health problems, the consumption of dairy is a deep source of suffering for the dairy cows. After the farmers (increasingly industrialized) are done impregnating them and taking their milk (which is intended to go to their babies, not humans), the dairy cows are slaughtered for the cheapest cuts of meat. This is where hamburgers come from.

Humans are the only species that drink milk from another species, and it is very unhealthy.

From a Buddhist perspective, it makes sense that what is bad for the cows is bad for the humans. But I don’t think you have to be a Buddhist to understand that. I recently visited The Cow Sanctuary which my partner and I have developed a connection to through the cows we have helped to free. The Cow Sanctuary is one of the places where I have experienced the most freedom.

For more photos from The Cow Sanctuary, click https://tealeavesamemoir.wordpress.com/2021/11/14/im-ready-for-my-closeup-stories-and-photos-from-the-cow-sanctuary-govegan-amreading/

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Halo the cow is free: #happyending #govegan #farmanimalsanctuaries

I would like to tell you a story today with a happy ending about our cow friend named Halo.

Halo was a cow on a dairy farm. Like other dairy cows, she was forcibly impregnated every year so she could give milk. The treatment of Halo and all the other dairy cows like her was a big reason to go vegan. Dairy cows are routinely slaughtered for hamburger and other cuts of cheap meat when they are done having their milk taken from them. Usually, the cows are from four to six years old when they are done being milked. Their milk is used for humans and not for their baby calves, who are routinely taken from them. Humans are the only species to drink the milk of another species. Contrary to advertising from the dairy industry, cow milk consumption has been scientifically proven to be harmful to humans. Dairy cows are slaughtered when they are younger if they come down with a disease. It’s surprising more people haven’t gone vegan.

Here’s Halo at the place where she used to live.

Visiting Halo and the other cows made us very sad. Seeing her was a reason for us to stay vegan. There were lots of other reasons, but we also didn’t want to be part of the suffering around us.

But then one day early in the morning, Halo entered a vehicle and had trust in the universe and the people around her that she would be safe.

Finally, she arrived and sniffed the air and tentatively got out.

She liked what she saw and stood in some water and met some pigs.

Halo, who the vet said had arthritis, was so happy she decided to run! (She is fourteen, old for a former dairy cow.)

Finally, Halo is happy and safe at her forever home. My partner, who was instrumental in organizing the humans to free her, said that at the sanctuary she was like a new cow.

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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The Good News — #farmsanctuaries #animalrights #vegan

I try to avoid absorbing too much news. However, I have Windows 10 ( I’m on the computer a lot) so I always get the headlines. Yesterday, I got snagged and was ready to read another story about how awful things are when I came across an item under the heading of “good news” about a farm sanctuary tour for kids. I clicked on the link, began watching and was immediate flooded with good vibrations. I especially loved the donkeys and found out later that this sanctuary — Pasado’s Safe Haven in Washington State — was named for a donkey. We are living in dismal but changing times. But that fact that this sanctuary exists and is doing the essential work of rescuing the farm animals — the fact that farm animal sanctuaries are in existence all over the world — is good news!

Pasado’s Safe Haven Virtual Sanctuary Tour: Kids Edition!

 

To learn more about my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders (published by Adelaide Books New York/Lisbon), click here.

 

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