Posted on Mar 10, 2014
By Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn
This week, we hosted a wonderful group of children from South Central
Los Angeles, brought to us by the Los Angeles Police Department. Many of
these kids came from broken homes where they know, all too well, what
it feels like to be separated from family members and what it’s like to
miss loved ones. This week, we took them to our Healing Center where a
majority of our cows live. We fed the cows cookies, pet them and told
their stories. The kids noticed that there were many moms and babies,
but asked where the fathers were. We told them that, unfortunately, farm
animals usually do not get to stay as families; they are usually
separated from each other at a very young age. We told them that many of
our cows were separated from their babies, mommies or daddies before we
saved them. The kids immediately identified with them and said that it
was not fair and that they knew how they felt. The kids had tears in
their eyes and whispered in the cows’ ears that they were sorry for what
happened to them. They gave them extra treats and reassured them that
from now on, at The Gentle Barn, they will always stay together and be
loved and cared for properly. Both cows and kids carried pain in their
hearts brought on by having families torn apart by circumstance, but
they inspired each other that they could overcome, be resilient and find
joy in second chances.