‘Til the cows come home
KORUMBURRA’S Tyler and Lucky are among the fortunate male calves given a chance at life by ‘Til The Cows Come Home.
KORUMBURRA’S Tyler and Lucky are among the fortunate male calves given a chance at life by ‘Til The Cows Come Home.
The organisation was established in 2018 to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome unwanted farm animals, and now operates Australia wide.
“Tyler and Lucky were rescued alongside 16 other calves who were all destined to go on the ‘bobby’ truck,” administration and adoptions manager Sarah Tivendale said.
The lucky duo have recently been adopted by a family keen to help animals needing a forever home and will soon be relocating to Pakenham Upper.
“We just bought 11 acres and we wanted to have some cows, but I want a few as pets and we found them on Facebook and I thought this is such a great thing; we were going to rock up to a dairy farmer’s place and ask if we could take them off their hands and this has worked out a bit better,” adopter Jessica Harrop said.
The family is looking forward to picking up the calves soon, with Jessica’s two young sons planning new names for the pair.
The Sentinel-Times will provide an update on Tyler and Lucky after they join their new family.
While it is not financially viable for dairy farmers to support male calves, Sarah said that many farmers appreciate the opportunity ‘Til The Cows Come Home offers to give such animals a future.
“Farmers don’t get joy out of sending their calves to slaughter,” Sarah said.
She explained that the founder of ‘Til The Cows Come Home “wanted to build a bridge between farmers and a forever home for bobby calves and any other ‘unwanted’ farm animals”.
“In the Gippsland region alone, we have rescued 50 calves in just over 12 months’ time, just like little Tyler and Lucky,” Sarah said.
Tyler overcame an early health scare, having to spend three days in a veterinary hospital on IV fluids after he suddenly stopped feeding.
He’s recovered and is full of energy just like the aptly named Lucky.
As well as making wonderful pets, calves grow into handy lawnmowers helping people maintain their acreage.
‘Til The Cows Come Home is predominantly made up of volunteers, including its foster carers.
The organisation is now Australia’s leading online adoption agency for farmed animals.
There are currently 13 calves in Gippsland needing to be adopted.
Those keen to adopt are encouraged to send an email to info@tilthecowscomehome.org or contact the organisation through its Facebook page.
All potential adopters are required to submit an adoption application and be approved to adopt.
Sarah stressed it is important those wishing to adopt “are aligned with our views and that these animals won’t be treated as a commodity and they’ll just be a companion or a pet”.
Importantly, ‘Til The Cows Come Home supports adopters post adoption, understanding that circumstances sometimes change, making it necessary to rehome adopted animals.
All male calves are adopted as steers (desexed), stay in foster care for two weeks minimum to ensure that they are healthy, and are vet checked.
‘Til The Cows Come Home is a not-for-profit organisation and relies on public donations to support its mission.
Visit calf-rescue.tilthecowscomehome.org to donate.
