Cow dying in a local pasture. No one is doing....UPDATE on #260

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=cloudyandcallie;8655809]
This really ticks me off. The OP cares that a cow, an animal, is suffering and people are flaming the OP. You are not a busy body if you do not want to see an animal suffer. You are not nosey if you look thru binoculars to check on a downed animal.

What amazes me is people who join a forum, like CoTH, and do not care about the suffering of other animals. Go join some slaughter forum if you want animals to suffer. Humans are not that far up the scale on the evolution route to be so superior. If you must kill animals, do not let them linger and suffer.

OP, you are great. Now if this were I, I’d buy the cow and either pay vet bills or put it down. Don’t pay attention to those who flame you here.[/QUOTE]

Seems like the OP has a huge issue with the owner of the cow (how DARE him having paid workers to keep his place in order, and not being born and raised in the cow shed! Audacity!)
Then she is watching through binoculars and admittedly not seeing any details.

So she is wildly guessing at the owners assumed inaction

And yea, calling the law…

We have had the other side of this coin before: Do-gooders call AC because of
blindfolded horses,
dead horses
starving horses
abused horses
locked in the barn
locked out of the barn
ridden
not ridden
bored
excited
standing in mud
lonely
bullied
crowded

have I forgotten anything?

Heck, even I made the effort to talk to my neighbor.
That he is a jerk and I won’t do it again is another story, and he is only killing grass, but in civilized society we ought to have better conflict resolving skills.

The OP does not know what is wrong with the cow
what the owner is doing
just guessing.

And the slaughter reference in your post is beyond insulting and disgusting.
I suppose you are vegan…or you better be.

[Krisly7]

Wow, this thread is something. So there is a cow, lying in a field, skin and bones, with questionable care from the sound of it, and the OP gets flamed for being nosy and a busy body just because she cares?! That’s just really sad.
Oh and, I could be wrong, I’m pretty sure the OP said she offered help and it was declined.

[ThreeFigs]

Well, according to the OP, the cow is skin and bones. OP hasn’t offered to show us video of this cow, but the fact that (evidently) she’s still alive indicates that she is recovering, albeit slowly. Yes, she may still die. I’ve seen one or two such cases at my cousin’s ranch. Yes, they lie around for days and you feel bad for them but time is the best doctor in those cases.

The term is “calf pulling”, not “calf yanking”. Sorry, OP, but that makes you sound like a vegan townie. I’ve seen it done and have helped with some assisted births, but only by hand or with chains, very occasionally with a calf puller. Never a tractor, though. We learned that heifers who calved without “assistance” bonded better with their calves.

Cattle calve easier and with fewer complications in the field as opposed to being confined to a barn. Perhaps this cow suffered a “hip lock” – where the calf was large and literally got “locked” inside the cow’s pelvis. It happens. Rough on the cow. Rough on the calf. Sometimes fatal for one or both.

Yes, cattle are different from horses. And as cattle are not usually as acclimated to being handled as horses are, they’re best left alone to recover with minimal intervention. Offering water and feed, ok; erecting a tent over it might disturb the animal more than necessary.

The cattle on the ranch did not have access to shelter or shade in the summer pasture and never suffered because of it.

[Where_sMyWhite]

FWIW, I’ve seen dairy cows that could be easily misconstrued as skin and bones with jutting hips etc.

I realize the OP is trying to help but also doesn’t sound like all the details are known or that she may be not totally bovine savvy.

LE can spend an inordinate amount of time responding to calls from well meaning people who aren’t knowledgable about what they are calling about.

I have been asked to drive by a pasture to look at “starving” horses and was unable to really find one I thought was starving. Occasionally would see on that was maybe a bit underweight but not starving. Heck, if you look at a TB on the track, they can look "starving’ if you’re more used to the plump pony look.

I was asked to respond to a starving horse once and arrived to find the well meaning neighbor in the horse’s turnout feeding the horse water with a young child sitting on the ground. LE had often worked with the horse owner as the horse was older and had many of the ‘old horse’ symptoms… sway back and trouble holding weight. I know the neighbor meant well but going into the pasture with a young child wasn’t the correct solution… :eek:

[dog_amp_horsemom]

Thank You for caring OP!

While I was giving an insurance exam a few yrs ago - the guy told me that he had a border collie - and he asked his cousin to take care of the dog while he was gone on vacation - the dog was on a chain…and the cousin forgot he was supposed to take care of the dog…and the dog suffered and died on that chain. If You were the next door neighbor you would have noticed the dog not getting fed or watered and would have done something about it - instead he had a neighbor like Wirt - who doesn’t give a damn.
Thanks for caring and don’t ever lose the desire to help those that need your help.

[RodeoFTW]

It’s usually better to assume the worst out of a situation and cause a little trouble than having an innocent animal die from exposure because “well I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers…”

That poor dog.

[dotneko]

Key words ‘done something about it’.
If you truly believe the cow is not being cared for and dying, then give US the address and one of us will have the cojones to ACT rather than WITNESS.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=cloudyandcallie;8655809]
This really ticks me off. The OP cares that a cow, an animal, is suffering and people are flaming the OP. You are not a busy body if you do not want to see an animal suffer. You are not nosey if you look thru binoculars to check on a downed animal.

What amazes me is people who join a forum, like CoTH, and do not care about the suffering of other animals. Go join some slaughter forum if you want animals to suffer. Humans are not that far up the scale on the evolution route to be so superior. If you must kill animals, do not let them linger and suffer.

OP, you are great. Now if this were I, I’d buy the cow and either pay vet bills or put it down. Don’t pay attention to those who flame you here.[/QUOTE]

See I don’t see where she actually cares about the cow.

She cares about proving her neighbor a jerk. She wants to complain about him. I can’t see where she’s done much for the cow at all.

Talk is cheap. Typing on an internet forum is even cheaper. I know her type & have zero respect from them. Doing something takes guts and an effort. OP is just sitting at a window with a camera and typing on a keyboard. Sure it makes her feel all sorts of superior, but it doesn’t do anything for the cow, not that I’m really sure anything more even needs to be done for the cow.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Color of Light;8653221]
I tried really hard to mind my own business, but could not stand it any more. This morning I called the sheriff. I’ve been watching to see if anyone has attended to her. No. So I called again. They said they checked on her. [/QUOTE]

@Color of Light;8653501

Someone just gave her a few sips of water, then took the rest of it away. :no: First time I’ve seen anyone water her all week. LE knocking at their door may have been the motivator.

I haven’t read that carefully, so maybe this has been clarified. OP called the sheriff twice, and apparently the sheriff’s office sent someone over to investigate.

So…perhaps things are under control, whether they are to the OP’s liking? Maybe it’s a bit early to assume the cow is actually “dying” just because it is still down. At least, too early to give up hope and shoot it.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=Color of Light;8655659]
Highly doubt it based on other happenings over the years. A groomed lawn and garden to do not mean someone is giving cattle advice. In this case means hired help is doing farm maintenance, while owner is planting a garden. I have never seen or heard him shoot a suffering cow yet. They are left to die on their own.[/QUOTE]
How exactly does having people work for you, that you pay money (so you are helping to support a family even) a bad thing? I never knew having employees made someone a bad person.
Are people who pay a house keeper to clean their house while they are outside planting their garden bad people too?
Are barn owners who pay someone to clean stalls while they ride their horse bad some how too?

Just trying to figure out where the line is here.

@Alagirl;8655875

We have had the other side of this coin before: Do-gooders call AC because of
blindfolded horses,
dead horses
starving horses
abused horses
locked in the barn
locked out of the barn
ridden
not ridden
bored
excited
standing in mud
lonely
bullied
crowded

have I forgotten anything?

Yes. You forgot horses on fire. I can not find it right now but isn’t there a great blog on that one?

[QUOTE=Krisly7;8655906]Wow, this thread is something. So there is a cow, lying in a field, skin and bones, with questionable care from the sound of it, and the OP gets flamed for being nosy and a busy body just because she cares?! That’s just really sad.
Oh and, I could be wrong, I’m pretty sure the OP said she offered help and it was declined.[/QUOTE]
The OP is not getting flamed for anything other than her drama.
You can not post that the cow has NEVER been given anything unless you are watching all the time. Add the fact that the cow would be dead by now if the cow has never been given anything.
And from the posts here I doubt the OP knows what a cow is supposed to look like, so I am not really believing that it is skin and bones.

[Red_Barn]

@Krisly7;8655906

Wow, this thread is something. So there is a cow, lying in a field, skin and bones, with questionable care from the sound of it, and the OP gets flamed for being nosy and a busy body just because she cares?! That’s just really sad.

Well, that particular bunch of flamers always takes exactly the same tack: the owner of livestock no matter how selfish or stupid, is always right, and there’s an excuse for pretty much everything. I’ve never seen them react any other way.

I’m sure this clown knows perfectly well that his cow is down, and I can’t imagine anything good happening if a neighbor was to come by offering “help” at this late date. In fact, I find it hard to believe that anybody actually living in a farming community would seriously suggest this.

The trouble is, I can’t think of anything - other than hauling food and water over there herself - that the OP can do in a situation like this. Tempers can run very high over this kind of thing.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=Red Barn;8656323]
Well, that particular bunch of flamers always takes exactly the same tack: the owner of livestock no matter how stupid, is always right, and there’s an excuse for pretty much everything. I’ve never seen them react any other way.[/QUOTE]
I personally hate abuse and neglect.

The difference between me and someone like the OP is that I do not assume different is wrong.

If you keep your horses in a different environment than I keep mine (in more, out more, different diet, more work, less work, blankets, no blankets, etc.) I do not assume you are wrong and that your way is abuse.

I am also more than willing to admit that how one treats or cares for a cow is different than how I care for my dogs and even my horses.

Heck, I had a friend who thought she was comforting a deer (a wild deer) that had been hit by a car while she waited for someone else to come shoot it by standing right by it and talking to it.
I would bet the wild animal found her presence more stressful than comforting. But she talked bad about ‘all the people who did not stop to offer comfort’.

I personally think it is great that the OP called animal control (or the sheriff or whomever is in charge of such things in her area) to come look at a concerning situation. I think the OP would get a better reaction from the people she called if she did not give statements that were so drama filled and clearly not true. (Because she has not been watching every second so she does not know if the cow had not been given water before - she should say ‘whenever I have watched the cow has not been given food or water’.)

[dotneko]

But she moved her desk to be able to watch better!
So clearly she is not bedridden.
Unbelievable that she could watch an animal suffer for a week now. Get off your arse and do something about it.
Really, get off the keyboard, put down the video camera and put one foot in front of the other. If you are afraid, bring a friend.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=dotneko;8656361]
But she moved her desk to be able to watch better!
So clearly she is not bedridden.
Unbelievable that she could watch an animal suffer for a week now. Get off your arse and do something about it.
Really, get off the keyboard, put down the video camera and put one foot in front of the other. If you are afraid, bring a friend.[/QUOTE]

But when you actually do DO something, you might not be perfect anymore, and make mistakes!
</heavy sarcasm>

[Where_sMyWhite]

[QUOTE=Red Barn;8656323]
The trouble is, I can’t think of anything - other than hauling food and water over there herself - that the OP can do in a situation like this. Tempers can run very high over this kind of thing.[/QUOTE]

And if she steps foot on his property, she would be trespassing.

[Red_Barn]

^ Exactly.

Other than being nasty, I can’t imagine what people could possibly intend by berating the OP for not “doing something.”

[heronponie]

WOW. Some of you are real jerks.

Un freekin believeable.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=heronponie;8656708]
WOW. Some of you are real jerks.

Un freekin believeable.[/QUOTE]

So I’m a jerk. OP seems way up in everyone else’s business. She took time off from CowWatch to diagnose a Yorkie with mange. She’s smarter than them too by the tone of that post as well.

I have been the one to call on things from literally hundreds of miles away because I got tired of listening to the locals complain. She called, AC came, they left, and she’s still at the window with her binos & camera. I think there’s medication for that somewhere.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=red mares;8656774]
So I’m a jerk. OP seems way up in everyone else’s business. She took time off from CowWatch to diagnose a Yorkie with mange. She’s smarter than them too by the tone of that post as well.

I have been the one to call on things from literally hundreds of miles away because I got tired of listening to the locals complain. She called, AC came, they left, and she’s still at the window with her binos & camera. I think there’s medication for that somewhere.[/QUOTE]

At least we now know when the cow was fed and watered.

[Nootka]

[QUOTE=Color of Light;8653221]
I am too far away to see thru binoculars if she has pooped or not. [/QUOTE]

If this is the case I am sure the video is pretty much crap. Seems if you can’t see details through the binoculars most likely the video won’t show much