Cow Escapes Slaughter and Survives Brutal Winter by Joining Deer Family

A recent article in People magazine highlights the story of a cow named Bonnie, who
escaped a farm that raised and killed cattle in Holland, New York, and joined a deer family in the forest.

The story goes: Bonnie heard the desperate
cries of her family as they were rounded up to be auctioned to a slaughterhouse,
and one day when the farmers were busy loading a trailer, Bonnie seized the
moment and escaped into the nearby forest.

While word of Bonnie spread around town, she
managed to avoid capture. Weeks later she was still wandering through the snowy
forests of upstate New York. Many questioned how a cow could survive on her own
in the woods during the brutal northeast winter, but they soon found out Bonnie
wasn’t alone.

Cameras set up by a group of hunters revealed that
Bonnie appeared to have been accepted by a deer family as one of their own. She
traveled, ate, and rested with them.

After a few weeks, a local animal lover named
Becky Bartels started approaching Bonnie with food and eventually got close to
the skittish cow. Sadly, neighbors threatened to kill Bonnie if she wandered
onto their land. This is when Bartels contacted nearby Farm Sanctuary and
worked with them to save Bonnie.

Fortunately, Bonnie now enjoys life at the
sanctuary where she gets to be free, but she’s one of the lucky ones. Countless farmed animals desperately try to escape their
cruel fates. Earlier this year, a bull in Maine escaped from a trailer en route
to a slaughterhouse. Tragically, police shot and killed the poor animal.
Similarly, a cow in Poland rammed through a metal fence,
breaking a worker’s arm, and swam across a lake to avoid being killed.

Billions of cows, pigs, chickens, and fish are
ruthlessly killed for food every year. Farmed animals are just as sensitive and intelligent as the dogs and cats
we know and love, yet they are relegated to unimaginable torment:
filthy conditions, horrific mutilations, and a life of agonizing confinement.

Bottom
line: No animal wants to die to become your food.

If you found yourself cheering on Bonnie and
were touched by this story but you’re still consuming animal products, it’s
time you aligned your food choices with your values.

You can choose compassion by leaving cows and
all other animals off your plate and switching to a vegan diet. Click here to
get started. And check out our Pinterest
page for thousands of recipe ideas.