Rescue
Pregnant cow jumps off truck heading to slaughterhouse
Her survival instincts kicked in!
Emma Shallcross
07.28.20

The thought of animals being transported to the slaughterhouse is uncomfortable for most of us, so it was nice to come across a story like this with a happy twist.

When a female cow was on her way to the slaughterhouse, she seemed to know what fate was lined up for her. Amazingly, she managed to escape off the back of the truck and made a bid for freedom down the highway.

Police were soon on the scene, and they chased her for hours. But in the end, the brave cow was rescued by Mike Stura, who runs Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Wantage, New Jersey. She was taken back to his shelter where she would be safe. But the drama wasn’t over yet, because it turned out that the cow was pregnant- and she was due any day.

Skyland Sanctuary
Source:
Skyland Sanctuary

It was late at night when Brianna the cow managed to escape out of the truck and race down the I-80 highway outside of Paterson, New Jersey. She was badly injured from her fall, and she must have been absolutely terrified, but the brave cow knew that she needed to put as much distance between herself and her truck as possible.

As she hurtled down the highway, police gave chase for hours as she narrowly avoided cars and caused a bit of a commotion! It was then that Mike from the rescue sanctuary was called, and with his help, Brianna was finally cornered and harnessed.

Skylands Sanctuary
Source:
Skylands Sanctuary

Mike tried to keep the terrified cow calm as they transported her to safety. The rescue center shared updates onto their Facebook page, writing:

“We have her. [We] are on our way to the vet.”

When Brianna arrived at her new home, rescuers were surprised at how confident she seemed as she sniffed around the green fields that she would now be calling her home. But Brianna had another surprise in store – she was pregnant!

Skyland Sanctuary
Source:
Skyland Sanctuary

“You look pretty good for someone who fell out of a truck,” Brianna’s rescuer said as the curious cow looked around at her surroundings. “Good girl, good girl.”

It was certainly lucky that Brianna felt so comfortable – because only a few days later she was giving birth! Despite Brianna’s ordeal, the calf was born completely healthy, and she bonded with her mom almost instantly. The birth had been such a shock to the rescuers that the vet hadn’t even had a chance to arrive at the scene! Mike assisted with the birth himself and reflected back on his feelings that day onto Skyland Sanctuary’s website.

“At one point during the birth, she opened her eyes and looked at me!” Mike said. “That’s when the reality of the situation really hit me.”

Skyland Sanctuary
Source:
Skyland Sanctuary

“Brianna is now the proud mother of a beautiful baby girl named, Winter,” Skylands shared in a Facebook post. “Brianna is a young girl, in great health, very far along in her pregnancy, and was on a transport truck that was taking her to slaughter. She was less than ten minutes away from that slaughterhouse when she flew out of the truck.”

We’re so happy that the cow and her calf are now in a better place. What a mooving story.

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