Gaura's Story

 Saved by a cow .   

My first real experience of caring for a cow.

I was in my early twenties and living in a temple that kept cows for life. I hadn't been there for long. One of my duties was looking after an old cow living her last days. It was a beautiful experience and I felt a lot of love from her and for her and felt in my element being with cows. One night I had a dream of her thanking me and she was happy. The next morning she had passed away. This started my journey of caring for cows which has nearly reached 40 years. A few years ago we had another cow which we were nursing on her final days and at night I dreamt she was running down a hill very happily towards me then all went black. In the morning she had left. 

Some years ago we had a cow which had an accident caused by another cow jumping on her. The vet checked her over and couldn't find anything broken, but she couldn't stand. We have specialised lifting apparatus for cows, so for 2 months twice a day we would lift her and try to get her to stand. Always she would help as much as she could. Her name was Rohini and her gratitude was apparent. Looking after her was a pleasure and honour. One morning we were lifting her and I felt her tap me on my leg and she passed away.  

Saved by a cow.

Some years ago, as well as our cows, we also had some retired milking cows and bulls from a non-slaughter dairy organisation, until they got more land. It was a winter evening and I was cleaning the yard, when suddenly I saw a young bull charging towards me. There was no escape route as I was in a corner. I braced myself, expecting pain and probable injury. Nothing happened. To my surprise, one of my cows had seen what was happening, come out of nowhere and charged the bull herself and sent him flying. I was so grateful to this day.