Cows escape slaughterhouse in St. Louis and are now a part of an animal sanctuary called The Gentle Barn.
The majority of us don’t give much thought to where our food comes from, particularly when it comes to meat, which is produced from real, living creatures that are kept primarily for consumption. These creatures are given life, only to eventually perish.
Cows in a St. Louis, Missouri, slaughterhouse were prepared, lined up, and anticipating their final exit on another typical day.
That’s when Chico, a brave cow who was probably the leader, forced its way through three fences and helped five other cows to safety, as reported by Upworthy.
SIMILAR: Read this story about a woman who saved the life of an extremely obese dog.
After fleeing the slaughterhouse premises, the six cows then started to run erratically in the middle of the traffic-filled roadways.
Commuters on their way to work were all too shocked, as their way was blocked by these runaway cows.
An increasing number of residents became aware of this chaotic scenario when it was covered on the evening news.
The cows resisted for a while before being eventually rounded up and sent back to the abattoir, where they would eventually meet their terrible end.
But the daring adventure displayed by the bovines was not something to be ignored, as the community stepped in and decided to save their lives.
To gather money to save Chico and his merry mooers from slaughter, a group of individuals created a GoFundMe page.
It became a race against time to locate the cows a refuge after gathering the necessary funds and convincing the owner to save the animals.
Unfortunately, no shelter came forward, and just as they were going to line up again with the others, The Gentle Barn decided to intervene.
The Gentle Barn is an animal sanctuary organization based in California and its owners were committed to helping the cows out of their situation. So, they opened a Gentle Barn cow sanctuary in Missouri to accommodate the animals.
Chico and friends were first moved to a foster home for a temporary stay until they worked things out and moved them to their forever home.
Ellie Laks, the founder of The Gentle Barn, told Almost 30 Podcast that after meeting Chico for the first time, she realized they had to create the Missouri facility.
“I visited St. Louis.” I drove to the foster home, got out of the car, and crossed the field gate to find the cows standing in a line 150 feet distant, staring at me.
“I fell to my knees and began weeping when the leader, Chico, crossed the 150 feet and stood in front of me,” Laks recalls.
“They’ve come with a message that we have to share with the world and we have to help them,” she said, realizing then that The Gentle Barn would be growing.
At their refuge, Chico and his friends are having the time of their lives playing and providing “cow hug therapy.” That’s correct, although it sounds a bit more awkward than it is, people travel to St. Louis and cuddle with the cows.
It seems like Chico and friends were aware of their true purpose, which was to bring comfort to many.
As visitors come to the sanctuary and sit with the cows, the adorable creatures come and sleep with their heads on their laps, looking like little cats and dogs.
Kids and adults alike find comfort and solace with the animals, it truly is a heaven, especially for cow lovers.
