Becky Bartel was pleased to allow Bonnie to stay on her property with the deer, but she knew she would never be safe. Her neighbours were out to get her.
A young cow escaped the slaughterhouse in Holland, New York, and fled into the woods.
Many people attempted to locate her.
Some were genuinely concerned for her safety, while others desired to hunt her for her meat.
They would occasionally catch a glimpse of her, but no one could catch her.
Bonnie, the young cow, grew up on a farm that raised animals for slaughter.
The deceased owner of the farm’s family decided to sell their cattle to a different slaughterhouse.
Bonnie took advantage of the other cows’ confusion to flee to a nearby forest, where no one could find her, while farm workers were busy loading the other cows.
The season was winter.
Bonnie escaped during the winter, when the forest was covered with approximately three feet of snow, making the search extremely difficult.
Eventually, they gave up, especially since they were unable to locate her.
Bonnie met her tribe.
A group of deer discovered Bonnie and adopted her into their herd.
Together, they cared for one another as they traversed the forest.
In the meantime, numerous trail cameras were installed throughout the forest so that Becky Bartels can photograph the wandering deer.
It turned out that Becky owned the land where Bonnie now resides with the herd of deer.
As she viewed the images on the camera’s memory card, she was astounded to discover a cow coexisting with the deer.
It was Bonnie.
It made perfect sense, as both cows and deer are herding animals.
And because Bonnie had lost her herd, she was fortunate to have been adopted by this herd, particularly during the winter.
Becky determined she would do whatever she could to ensure the cow had food.
She visited Bonnie’s residence daily to provide her with food and bedding.
Bonnie ate the food the human provided, but she remained wary and fearful of him.
Bonnie began to warm up to Becky and was no longer afraid to approach her to ask for snacks because she did this daily.
Becky knew this situation could not last forever.
Bonnie’s neighbours had already threatened to shoot her if she entered their property.
In order to protect her, Becky contacted Farm Sanctuary, a Watkins Glen, New York-based animal sanctuary.
Susie Coston, the national director of Farm Sanctuary, devised a plan to capture Bonnie and transport her to their sanctuary.
It would not be so simple.
Because Bonnie was wary of humans, it was difficult to approach her.
Becky was willing to do whatever was necessary to get Bonnie to a safe location.
After consulting with the Farm Sanctuary veterinarian, they decided to sedate Bonnie to make transporting her to their truck easier.
The sedative would be added to her food, which Becky would administer.
Bonnie still didn’t trust people.
Unfortunately, whenever Bonnie catches sight of a human, she flees.
They decided to barricade and seal off the area when Bonnie goes inside to eat.
Getting the correct dosage
Initially, the dosage was insufficient, and Bonnie continued to walk and kick.
The following day, they decided to administer a stronger dose, which was successful.
Bonnie was loaded into a truck by the Farm Sanctuary staff and transported to the sanctuary, where she now resides with other cows.
And it’s all because of Becky’s caring nature.