Jacqueline and Josephine

Jaqueline was brought here in late autumn of 2013. A vet had been called out to perform a caesarean section on her, as she was too young and in too poor a condition to give birth naturally.

She was tied to a gate at the edge of a field that resembled a battlefield—nothing but deep mud and pools of filthy water, which the other cattle struggled to navigate.

The calf, a white-blonde heifer named Josephine, was delivered and, with some careful massaging, was brought to life. Jaqueline had no milk, was thin, and now bore a wound about 60 centimetres long.

The owner proposed to turn both cow and calf out with the other cattle, to join them in the mire. They would have been fortunate to survive for even 24 hours in such conditions.

We negotiated with the owner and brought them back to the sanctuary, where they were given a straw bed, feed for Jaqueline, and bottles of milk for Josephine.

Both thrived, gained weight, and Jaqueline’s haunted look gradually faded, though she can still give an intimidating stare to strangers. Jaqueline and her calf Josephine will remain together for life.

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