The Animal Sanctuary

THE OTHER SIDE OF NEGLECT Many of the animals we rescue are starving and uncared for. Occasionally, however, we see the opposite: overfeeding and under-exercising that results in morbid obesity. We were totally shocked when we rescued two massive cows. The vet said they were the fattest cows he'd ever treated, and this caused serious health problems for them. I couldn't stop staring at their butts, which had grown huge bags of fat that almost buried their tails! Transporting them to their new home was a dangerous prospect. They were so obese and weak that when they couldn't stand for long in the float... and when they went down, they couldn't get up again. We honestly feared we were going to have to euthanise them. After a long and extremely stressful effort, the cows were finally extricated from the float. It was several days before they could stand for any length of time, they needed quite a bit of care. Thankfully this cow and her daughter are now up and around, getting exercise, and are on a diet to improve their health.