The story of three very lucky calves

If your fate is to be born an animal in a commercial animal industry, you can consider yourself very lucky if the 'Lady with the Hat' finds you...

This lady is Pam Ahern, founder of farm animal sanctuary Edgar's Mission. And this is the story of three lucky calves — Maid Marion, Robin Hood and Little John (from left to right in the picture above) — who were in a very wrong place, but at the right time. An interview with Pam:

Could you tell us the story of how Maid Marion, Little John and Robin Hood came to live at Edgar's Mission?
We had recently learned about the dairy industry's push for a standard that would make it legal for bobby calves to be off liquid feed for the last 30 hours of their short lives. Distressing as this was, it represented a golden opportunity to tell all Australians just what a bobby calf is, why they needed rescuing and about our flawed legal process that sees farm animals treated the way they are. But knowing full well when you start talking about numbers to people and faceless animals their eyes just glaze over, their ears close and their compassion shuts down — but if I could tell the story of just one calf and what would have been his or her fate I could tell the story of millions.

So you went looking for calves. Where did you find them?
Each week in Victoria there are sales conducted where the baby calves that are surplus to the needs of the dairy industry are taken and sold. Many go directly to abattoirs while others are sold to be 'grown out' (read fattened up) and then killed. Maid Marion was the first to catch my eye, so much smaller than any calf at the sale that day and penned on her own, her defencelessness drew me to her. But it was when I looked directly into her eye that I heard her plea for mercy. Little John was the last calf offered for sale on the day. He was clearly sick and weak. Several attempts were made to make the poor fellow stand before he staggered bewildered around the yard only to collapse down again.

Male calves are of little value and it appeared sick ones even more so ... but we thought he was priceless.

Buying animals from livestock markets is not something I particularly advocate unless it is going to do something beyond keeping the status quo of the industry. The purchase of these three tiny calves certainly achieved this. Instead of being dead within the next 24 hours, they secured national TV coverage by way of the 7PM Project and in doing so gave a voice to millions of other not so lucky calves. The outpouring of emotion from the public as a result of that story has been truly overwhelming.

Watch the amazing rescue of Maid Marion, Little John and Robin Hood:

Continued...

How did you feel about not being able to save all calves at the sale yard?
Of all the animals I witness in need nothing tugs at the heartstrings like the bobby calves and attending the calf sales would have to be one of the most harrowing experiences I endure, but I made a pledge to all those I left behind "I WILL tell your story" and I will keep telling their story until people realise that we cannot say we care about animals, support these practices and be taken seriously.

Can you tell us a bit about the characters of these young calves?
The thing that hit me most when I first met Maid Marion, Little John and Robin Hood was that despite their plight being the same they were all so different. Robin Hood was the biggest of the three, a black and white Friesian bull calf. He was very brave, confident and cheeky and quickly set about being the leader. Maid Marion, a black and white Friesian heifer who also stars in Animals Australia's What you never knew about dairy video, was a very gentle and trusting little soul who would look at you with pure trusting innocence, open her mouth and stick out her tongue looking for her bottle while Little John was very weak and shy and unfortunately not very well. He was slow to drink and his tongue would roll out the side of his mouth, his sucking reflex was very poor and we held grave fears for him. His most unusual colour said he was not a straight dairy bred but that his father was most likely a beef bull. We have two types of cattle in Australia, beef/meat cattle and dairy, those for milk.

So what happened with Little John?
It quickly became apparent that all was not well with him, the veterinary diagnosis indicated there was some type of brain trauma and as to the outcome we would have to wait and see. So pleased are we to report that thanks to lots of TLC (Tender Loving Care) Little John pulled through although we did have a few scares on the way. He still remains a little reserved and looks at you from big brown doey eyes.

What is life like for Maid Marion, Robin Hood and Little John at Edgar's Mission?
Their first moments with us told them they were going somewhere different to all the other calves, not cramped into a truck or trailer with a cold metal floor but a spacious straw lined and fully enclosed horse float would chauffeur them to their new home. When they first arrived at Edgar's Mission it was intensive care for them as not only had they been separated from their mothers in the first days of life, transported to market, mixed with other calves, and been off liquid feed for some time, but we were also uncertain of the quantity and quality of the colostrum they had received. Colostrum is the life giving and immune enhancing first milk all mammals should receive, but sadly not all bobby calves do. Without this milk in the first 24 hours of life the tiny calves are very vulnerable to diseases and stresses.

So they didn't get off to a good start in life.
No, but at Edgar's Mission the three calves got their own yard with a warm shelter full of straw and a big bin of hay for them to pick at, although in the first days of life they had not learned to eat solid foods. They would spend much time sleeping, a little time playing but their pitiful cries for their mothers will haunt me forever. I think this is the thing with these tiny calves that really gets to people, these innocent babies searching and calling for a mother who will never come.

Continued...

What are their favourite things to do?
Eating, playing chase and sleeping in the sun, eating, playing chase and sleeping in the sun. You get the picture!

Most people have an image of dairy farms where cows happily roam around free in green paddocks. In your experience, is this picture accurate?
I wish beyond all else this could be true but reality speaks a different story. It is amazing when I ask people who visit the farm to show hands who think cows produce milk, and just about every hand goes up, even the teachers. Puzzled I say, hang on a minute here, I am a female and just by virtue of being female doesn't mean I produce milk. Cows like all mammals only produce milk for their offspring so in order for a cow to produce for human consumption she needs to be pregnant, so what then do we do with all the baby calves that are born and then taken away from their loving mothers so the milk can be harvested for human consumption? You can almost see a light go on as they comment, "I never thought about that before" and that has been the success of the dairy industry and the downfall of baby calves.

It is to the credit of the dairy industry that people believe dairy is wholesome, good and nutritious, which of course it is but only if you are a baby calf — a rapidly growing animal, with four stomachs and a high body mass to bone ratio. Humans have none of those things.

What would you recommend people do to help calves like Maid Marion, Little John and Robin Hood?
With so many humane and healthy alternatives to cow's milk abounding we have to ask ourselves how have we got it so wrong. You don't have to have an animal sanctuary to help bobby calves. The most meaningful thing an individual can do to stop the suffering of baby calves like Maid Marion, Little John and Robin Hood is to choose kindness one sip at a time!

You can help!

If you want to save the lives of bobby calves by going dairy free, our list of favourite cruelty-free dairy-alternatives makes it easy. Please also consider sending an instant message to the Australian dairy industry to let them know that you will never accept the callous treatment of thinking, feeling animals as mere 'waste products'.

Edgar's Mission is a sanctuary for neglected, abused and discarded farm animals in Willowmavin Victoria and is a member organisation of Animals Australia. Visits to the farm are available when called ahead. We're grateful to Pam for her live-saving work and for taking the time to talk to us.

We would love to hear what you think of this story. Leave a comment below!