In the middle of a cold night in late December, a pregnant cow headed for the slaughterhouse did something extraordinary.
She managed to escape from the second floor of her transport truck. She plunged 8 feet onto a highway.
While this amazing story could have had a sad ending, thankfully the police were called. They spent over an hour chasing the increasingly distressed cow.
By the time they caught her, they had a decision: Send her to slaughter, or make a call. Officer Brian decided to an animal sanctuary in Wantage.
The owner, Mike, runs a nonprofit which rescues farm animals, rehabilitates them, and finds them “forever homes”.
To honor the officer who made the call, the cow was christened “Brianna”. And boy was she happy for her newfound freedom!
Naturally, her story of escape and rescue went viral quickly. People from every corner cheered for her. But they would soon have something to truly rejoice about.
Only two days after her rescue, Brianna gave birth to her daughter, Winter. It turned out that Brianna had been 9 months pregnant when she made her daring escape.
With just a little courage and a lot of determination, Brianna ensured that her baby would live.
And thanks to Mike and his wonderful sanctuary, the pair will have an amazing life. Heck, they already are! They are enjoying spending every, inseparable moment together.
Mike hopes that in sharing Brianna and Winter’s amazing story, he can not only find a great “forever home” for the pair, but perhaps encourage discussion.
On what?
Mike wants to provoke thoughts and discussions on consuming dairy products and beef.
While grocery stores make it easy to see these products as just cheese or hamburgers, it makes it very hard to see the genuine sacrifices that go into those products.
Cows are often depicted as big, dumb animals. It’s too easy to forget that they are sweet, gentle animals that have thoughts and – as Brianna shows us – feelings.