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

Roy was one of four calves rescued during an undercover investigation in Texas. The calves were born in a dairy, taken away from their mothers at birth, and put into veal crates. The female calves went on to be trained to be dairy cows, however, the males were either left to die or killed in horrifically cruel ways. When the calves were pulled, Jay drove them 20 straight hours to the safety of The Gentle Barn.

All four of them were extremely sick, had high fevers, runny noses, and hacking coughs. It took several months of around-the-clock care to save them. Once recovered, the calves grew up at The Gentle Barn Sun Chlorella healing center in California. They played, ate side-by-side, rested in the spacious barn, and socialized with all the other cows. They grew up loving, kind, gentle, and trusting, leaving the trauma of their early days far behind them. Once Roy was a senior and had mobility issues, he was brought from our healing center to our main location to enjoy soft bedding, a warm barn, closer proximity to food and water, acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic, music therapy, and energy healing.

Roy loved hosting Cow Hug Therapy sessions, allowing people to hug and brush him on open-to-the-public Sundays and private tours, and held perfectly still while children swarmed around him, petting his sides and belly. He had morning cookies and bedtime cookies each evening, and he knew how loved he was.

Roy passed away at the age of 13 in his sleep surrounded by his entire family, who remained by his side till his body was laid to rest. We were so very lucky to have Roy for this long. A cow over 7 feet tall and 3,000 pounds doesn’t usually make it to 13 years old. He was a gentleman and a sage, always kind and considerate, and we were all very lucky to know him!!

In his departure, Roy and his family taught us just how spectacular cows are, how bonded they are to each other, and how much love they have to share. They never left Roy that last night and remained by his side until his body was laid to rest. We have so much to learn from these great and giant masters!

To learn more about Roy and his brothers' rescue story, and see how tiny they were, watch below: