When it was time for Maybelle, a dairy cow, to retire, the farmer sent her to The Gentle Barn—a sanctuary for rescued farm animals in Tennessee—to show his appreciation after spending eight years as a dairy cow. At Gentle Barn, Maybelle would never have to produce milk for humans again – instead she’d get to spend her days grazing and sleeping and enjoying the sunshine. But, once Maybelle settled in the sanctuary, she began to act strangely. Rather than grazing the idyllic pastures, the cow, seemingly uneasy, kept crying and pacing around.
She was incredibly unhappy – and at first, no one could figure out why. “She was just crying and crying,” said Andrea Burritt, manager of the Gentle Barn. Burritt had only seen one other cow act like this before – a cow who’d been separated from her baby. But Burritt and the other sanctuary staffers didn’t think Maybelle had a calf. Yet Maybelle kept crying – and insisting.“It was awful,” Burritt said. “She was pleading with us. She would look you right in the eye, and just scream. You knew something was wrong, and it was just hard trying to figure out how we could help and what we could do.” Jay Weiner, the sanctuary’s cofounder, ended up driving back to the farm and explained the situation. The farmer pointed out Miles, a 9-month-old calf. Not just any baby – Maybelle’s baby.
Miles had lived in a separate pasture from Maybelle at the farm, but they’d always been able to see and hear each other, according to Burritt. Cows have a maternal instinct similar to that of humans. The maternal bond between cows and their calves is incredibly strong. The farmer quickly agreed that Miles could go to the sanctuary as well. Burritt and the other sanctuary staff were over the moon when they heard.“We ran to Maybelle and told her, ‘We have your baby, we have your baby,'” Burritt said. “And she just stood at the corner of the pasture until she saw that trailer come. Then she started chasing the trailer across the pasture up to the top.” As Weiner drove up to the pasture, Maybelle and Miles had already started calling to each other. When Miles emerged from the trailer, he ran straight for his mom. “They knew it was each other immediately,” Burritt said. Watch the video, it’s a wonderful reunion and a special moment to witness. Such a happy ending!
