Read Faith's Story ^{(In Memoriam)}

Faith was rescued in 2008 along with five other calves taken from their moms at birth, put into crates so that they could not move, and sent to slaughter at only eight weeks old. By the time they got there, they were so sick that they could not stand, and we were called to take them off the auction house’s hands.
Faith had an eye infection that was never treated inside the veal crate, and by the time she arrived at The Gentle Barn, she had gone blind in both eyes. She had a staph infection in her lungs, fungus infection on her skin, racking coughs, and runny nose and eyes. She was so sick that she could not stand, eat, and could barely drink from her bottle. Along with our staff and volunteers, we were with her and her siblings all day and all night for seven straight months, singing to them, reading to them, holding them, and painting the picture of what a beautiful life awaited for them if they could heal. Thank goodness they chose to live and finally recovered.

Faith learned her pasture by walking till she reached a corner and then peed, then walked till she hit the next corner and then peed, and did it in all four corners so by smell, she knew where the fences were. She learned her pasture so well, that she knew exactly where the feeders, water bucket, and barn were. Unless something startled her, she walked around, looking like she could see, even though she could not.

Faith was much more like a little girl than a cow. She had a wonderful sense of humor, she loved music, and being sung to, loved affection and socializing, and she was sweet, kind, and gentle to all she met. And just like a little girl, she wanted a baby to take care of. So she adopted her bouncy ball. She had to have a giant bouncy ball with her at all times. She made that soft, low moo to her ball, the same sound that all mommy cows make to their babies. She licked the ball, slept with the ball, and cried for the ball when she couldn’t find it. There were many, many nights that in the middle of the night I could hear her calling for her ball and I would wake up and go down in the dark to retrieve it for her. Once I heard her at five in the morning screaming loudly for her ball, and I went down to find that her ball had popped, in the dark, I found another ball, blew it up for her, and gave it back to her. Once she had her ball again, all was silent and well.

Not only did Faith suffer when she came into The Gentle Barn, but she suffered at the end of her life too. Throughout her life, she had growths on her eyes that had to be removed and eventually her right eye was taken over by cancer. We removed the eye in a vain attempt to remove the cancer, but sadly seven months after the eye removal, the cancer came back with a vengeance and not only took over her entire eye socket but spread throughout her body to her lymph nodes, stomach, and lungs, she fought hard and courageous allowing us to treat and bandage her eye and give her pain meds that allowed us to have more time with her, but ultimately the cancer took over and she stopped eating and we knew it was time. Surrounded by everyone who loved her, we walked Faith home easily and peacefully.

We were so blessed and honored and privileged to have known her, cared for her, and loved her. Come and see us at The Gentle Barn California and allow us to tell you her story! She will forever live in our hearts.