One backpacker’s mission to save a life

A GERMAN backpacker rescused a calf set to be slaughtered. But now they need to find a forever home. 

Number174, the number issued to a little calf who had no name. 174, stripped from his mother within only 24 hours of his birth was facing the fate of hundreds of thousands of calves.

Condemned to a life with one sole purpose, eat until his body was big enough for human consumption.
174’s mother, like most female cows on dairy farms, is kept in a constant cycle – artificial impregnation, birthing, milk production, repeat. 174 may have not been the first calf she had carried and birthed, to be taken from her. Heartbreakingly, nor would he be the last.

You may hope the routine abuse would become easier for her. This is not the case. So traumatised, mothers have broken down fences, cried in anguish and even hidden their calves from farmers.

Their stolen calves and split into two groups, those for human consumption and those to be “disposed of”. 174 was destined for the former.

That was until 174 met Sarah.

Sarah is a backpacker from Germany, like many travelling in Australia she was completing her visa-required regional work on a dairy farm. Day after day she would visit the calves and one always stuck out to her. He would seek Sarah out and the two became bonded to one another.

She named him, Bounty.

This was the first time he had ever been treated as anything but a number, he joyfully began to come to his name being called.

She convinced the farmer to let her buy him, but she had one problem, where would he go? As she had no residency here, she searched for a safe place for him. That is when she found ‘Til The Cows Come Home.

‘Til The Cows Come home is an Australian not-for-profit animal charity founded in 2018. The team rescue unwanted, unviable, “waste’’ farmed animals, rehabilitate them in short-term foster care and rehome them into safe, forever-loving homes as companions.

Their journey is not over yet, now the task is finding their forever home. 

If you think you can help, give Bounty and Ollie the home they deserve, please get in touch by emailing info@tilthecowscomehome.org