Video shows cow stuck in a tree after Hurricane Ida

Video from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, shows workers rescuing a cow who was stuck in a tree from the floodwaters caused by Hurricane Ida. The cow was safely rescued. Source: CNN

To see the video, click here: Video shows cow stuck in a tree after Hurricane Ida

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Why Did Scientists Paint Eyes on Hundreds of Cattle Butts? To Save Lives, Study Says

For four years, researchers painted fake eyes on hundreds of cattle butts for the sake of science. What seems like a silly prank, the “eye-cow technique” proved lifesaving for the animals as it made predators rethink their attack, choosing another meal instead.

The scientists say their method is a more humane and “ecologically sound” alternative to lethal control and fencing used to separate cattle from carnivores. The team even theorizes the technique could be used to prevent human-wildlife conflicts and reduce criminal activity, according to a news release. A study was published Aug. 7 in the journal Communications Biology.

To read more on this story, click here: Why Did Scientists Paint Eyes on Hundreds of Cattle Butts? To Save Lives, Study Says

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Watch Joaquin Phoenix Rescue a Cow and Her Calf After Advocating for Animals in Oscars speech

If there were any doubts about whether Joaquin Phoenix was sincere in his Oscars speech advocating for animal rights, this should clear them up.

The Joker star rescued a cow and her baby from the Manning Beef facility in Pico Rivera, Calif., and took them to Farm Sanctuary in Acton, Calif., where they can live together in peace, without threat of being slaughtered.

The move came a day after Phoenix spent his time at the podium, while accepting the Best Actor trophy for his turn in Joker, decrying the way humans treat all of the natural world. He specifically cited the plight of cows. “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, then we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable,” Phoenix said. “And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”

Grassroots group Los Angeles Animal Save captured Phoenix’s efforts in a moving, 8-minute video.

To read more on this story, click here: Watch Joaquin Phoenix Rescue a Cow and Her Calf After Advocating for Animals in Oscars speech

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Farmer Thinks Cow Is Pregnant With One Calf But During Labor The Babies Keep Dropping To Ground

On May 24, 2018, Chuck and Deb Beldo welcomed a truly rare phenomenon on their farm in.

So rare, in fact, that it only ever happens in one in 11.2 million cases!

“I’ve been around cows my whole life, and I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Deb told CBS Local.

One of the cows on their farm got pregnant for a third time. Her previous two births were to single healthy calves.

To read more on this story, click here: Farmer Thinks Cow Is Pregnant With One Calf But During Labor The Babies Keep Dropping To Ground

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'Cow Cuddling' is the New Wellness Trend for People That Want to Relax

Life can be pretty stressful, so it's important to find time to relax. You could start meditating, enter a yoga class or soak in a warm bath - that is, if you're totally basic. If you're feeling more adventurous, you could try out the latest wellness trend, and pay $300 to cuddle cows.

I know this sounds udderly ridiculous. (Sorry). However, animal-assisted therapy has proven effective, and grown in popularity. Science says that animals provide a sense of comfort and improve your emotional well-being. When you bond with your pet, you develop a sense of trust and self-worth. Therapy animals are often prescribed for people suffering from mental illnesses, like depression, schizophrenia and addiction. Sure, dogs and cats are the most common therapy animals, but why not cows?

The Mountain Horse Farm is located in upstate New York, and offers customers a "Horse & Cow Experience." In the session, you spend quality time with horses or cows. You can pet them, cuddle them, watch them graze and even go through an obstacle course. The sessions last ninety minutes and are attended by two professionals, a licensed counselor and an equine specialist. The sessions cost $300 for up to two people and $395 for up to four people.

To read more on this story, click here: 'Cow Cuddling' is the New Wellness Trend for People That Want to Relax


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Mini Cows For Your Mini Farm

Yes, miniature cattle are a real breed and yes, they really are this adorable.

If you don’t have enough room on your land for a herd of big cows, consider getting minis for smaller acreage. They still produce milk like regular cows but don’t need as much space and don’t do as much damage to your land as normal-sized cattle might.

Miniature bull cows generally stand at 36 to 42 inches at the hip, which means they are about half the size of a full-size cow.

To read more on this story, click here: Mini Cows For Your Mini Farm




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A Woman Who Lost Everything in the Valley Fire Three Years Ago: Opening her Property to Animals Displaced by the Mendocino Complex Fire

She lost everything in the Valley Fire three years ago -- and was able to rebuild. Now, Helen Owen is opening her property to animals displaced by the Mendocino Complex Fire.

You can think of it as Noah's Ark -- with dozens of animals being cared for.

FOX40 photojournalist Rachelle Riley met up with Owen at her ranch.

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An Alleged Carjacking Suspect Almost Got Away from Florida Police – Only to be Thwarted by a Herd of Pesky Cows

Police said the driver and a passenger in a stolen Subaru SUV fled on foot after the car crashed in a ditch in Sanford, WKMG-TV reported. Another passenger remained at the scene and was arrested.

The driver, identified as Jamie Michael Young, was apprehended with the help of a Sanford police dog, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

But the other passenger, Jennifer Kaufman, fled to a nearby field where she was corralled by cattle.

In a video released by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted in the incident, Kaufman can be seen running through a field with more than two dozen cows in pursuit. At least one cow got very close to the woman.

“If you see the large group of cows, they’re literally following her and chasing her,” an officer said in the video.

Eventually the cows herded her to the edge of a field where she climbed through what appears to be a fence, only to be immediately arrested.

Richard Kondracki has dozens of cows on his property, and while they’ve never been aggressive in the past, he is also not aware of a stranger running through his field before, he told WKMG.

“I think they didn’t realize who they were,” Kondracki said. “They panicked. The cows were nervous. That would make me panic – if all those big cows come running at you. They didn’t know them. They don’t know if they’re there to hurt them or steal one of the babies.”

Both Kaufman and Young were charged with trespassing, petit theft, drug possession and resisting arrest. Police found 1.3 grams of cocaine as well as drug paraphernalia inside the Subaru, according to the Sentinel.






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Some Unusual Shelter Animals You May Not Have Known You Could Adopt

Although dogs and cats remain by far the most common pet to rescue and adopt, other kinds of animals do end up in shelters. From farm animals to small rodents and even reptiles, there are plenty of options if you’re looking to bring home a different kind of furry or scaly — friend.

While some of these animals end up in shelters because an owner moves away, plenty of them are abandoned by “impulse buyers” who change their mind after buying a needy breed of pig or chinchilla, experts say.

For that reason, Dana Puglisi of AdoptaPet.com, which has listings for more than a dozen species of shelter animals, said that it’s important to read up on animal needs if you’re interested in adopting an atypical pet.

“It’s very easy to look at an animal and say, ‘That’s such a cute animal, I want it to be a part of my life,” Puglisi tells NBC. “It’s another thing to take on the actual day-to-day responsibility for caring for that pet.” 

In addition, some states have restrictions on what kind of animal you can keep as a pet, so Puglisi said she also suggests checking local laws before reaching out to a shelter.

Below are some of the unusual shelter animals you may not have known you could adopt:

Cows
Holy cow, indeed! In areas with more farmland, shelters and sanctuaries like Animal Place in Grass Valley, Calif. may have cows that were rescued from factories. Be sure you have the space and resources to adopt a shelter cow, though, as they need at least 80 square feet of space and over 20 gallons of water a day.

Chinchillas
According to ChinchillaRescue.org, chinchillas are noisy and nocturnal, so it’s best to avoid keeping them in their new owner’s bedroom. Since rescue chinchillas are of unknown parentage and may not be neutered, owners should plan to keep them apart from opposite-sex chins in order to avoid accidental breeding.

Pigs
The right breed of pig can make for an adorable rescue animal — and a shelter is often the best way to find one. Puglisi said that more and more pig owners are abandoning their pets after being tricked into bringing home baby farm pigs that put on hundreds of pounds as they grow up. If you have the space, you can adopt one of these larger abandoned pigs, but shelters also have plenty of smaller breeds, like Vietnamese miniature pot-bellies.

Parrots
Parrots (as well as other tropical birds like parakeets) are often left behind at shelters when owners move away or become unable to keep caring for these sometimes needy birds. As with some other animals on this list, though, be sure to check local regulations if you choose to adopt — parrots aren’t allowed to be kept as pets in some states.

Goats
If there’s anything to learn from the recent goat yoga fitness craze, it’s that these farm animals can serve as fun, furry additions to the family. While regular-size goats can be found in some shelters, a few also have pint-sized pygmy goats up for adoption for anyone short on space. Who knows, they might even eat the weeds in your yard.

Horses
Equestrian lovers can adopt either full-size or miniature horses, like Smooshy, a dwarf miniature horse adopted by actress Kaley Cuoco of “The Big Bang Theory.” Mini-horses in particular are seeing a surge in shelters right now, Puglisi said, as “impulse buyers” purchase and then abandon the horses they use to emulate celebrity horse owners.

Snakes
From king snakes to corn snakes to Colombian boa constrictors, there’s plenty of shelter serpents snakes that you can adopt into your home. Most snakes are carnivores or omnivores, and they require a steady diet of other animals in order to be well-fed — so be prepared to keep “mousicles” inside your freezer.

Ferrets
These tail-wagging mammals make for active, friendly pets to adopt or even house temporarily through foster programs for older or sick ferrets. Watch your fingers, though — ferrets are also known for biting.

Bearded Dragons
They may not be quite like the Viking pets in “How to Train Your Dragon,” but shelter bearded dragons can let you support shelters while (sort of) living out a mythical animal fantasy. Sometimes known as “beardies,” these reptiles originated in central Australia and are often kept in zoos. They’re considered one of the easiest reptiles to care for, but still need a specific light pattern and large tank.

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Florida Dairy Workers Seen Beating And Kicking Cows In Undercover Video

A Florida dairy farm is under criminal investigation after an undercover video from an animal rights group revealed workers kicking cows in the head and beating them with metal rods.

The video was shot by a member of Animal Recovery Mission who went undercover in August as a farm worker at Larson Dairy in Okeechobee County. The footage shows men brutally abusing cows as the bovines cower and duck their heads. In some cases, the cows are unable to get away because they are confined by bars meant to restrain them for the milking process.

Larson Dairy was a supplier of Publix Super Markets, which has announced it suspended deliveries from the farm in the wake of the video, the Associated Press reports. Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen announced Thursday that he had launched a criminal investigation into the farm.

To read more on this story, click here: Florida Dairy Workers Seen Beating And Kicking Cows In Undercover Video

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Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

It’s time to take a look at the line between “pet” and “animal.” When the ASPCA sends an agent to the home of a Brooklyn family to arrest one of its members for allegedly killing a hamster, something is wrong.

That “something” is this: we protect “companion animals” like hamsters while largely ignoring what amounts to the torture of chickens and cows and pigs. In short, if I keep a pig as a pet, I can’t kick it. If I keep a pig I intend to sell for food, I can pretty much torture it. State laws known as “Common Farming Exemptions” allow industry — rather than lawmakers — to make any practice legal as long as it’s common. “In other words,” as Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of “Eating Animals,” wrote me via e-mail, “the industry has the power to define cruelty. It’s every bit as crazy as giving burglars the power to define trespassing.”

Meanwhile, there are pet police. So when 19-year-old Monique Smith slammed her sibling’s hamster on the floor and killed it, as she may have done in a fit of rage last week, an ASPCA agent — there are 18 of them, busily responding to animal cruelty calls in the five boroughs and occasionally beyond — arrested her. (The charges were later dropped, though Ms. Smith spent a night in jail at Rikers Island.)

In light of the way most animals are treated in this country, I’m pretty sure that ASPCA agents don’t need to spend their time in Brooklyn defending rodents.

In fact, there’s no rationality to be found here. Just a few blocks from Ms. Smith’s home, along the M subway line, the city routinely is poisoning rodents as quickly and futilely as it possibly can, though rats can be pets also. But that’s hardly the point. This is: we “process” (that means kill) nearly 10 billion animals annually in this country, approximately one-sixth of the world’s total.

To read more on this story, click here: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

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Did You Know That These Hybrid Animals Are Still in Existence?

Hybrid is defined as “the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species, or genera, especially as produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.” Take a look at some of these animals that still exist today.

Liger

The animal made famous by Napoleon Dynamite is actually real. Ligers are the offspring of male lions and female tigers. While there are legends of Ligers prowling the wilds, they currently only exist in captivity, where they are deliberately bred.

  

There is a myth that Ligers never stop growing their entire lives, which is untrue. They just grow to freakish sizes in their normal growth window. Ligers are the largest cat in the world. Hercules, the biggest individual Liger, weighed 922 pounds.

Tigon

When a male tiger and a female lion mate, the tigon is the result. It used to be believed that tigons were smaller than their parent species, but they can grow just as large. They are, however, smaller than ligers.

Both ligers and tigons are capable of producing their own offspring, leading to confusingly-named hybrids such as titigons and liligers.

  

Zebroid

A Zebroid is a cross between a zebra and any other equine. Zebroids have been around for a long time – they were even mentioned in some of Darwin’s writings. They tend to be male and to have the physiology of the non-zebra parent, with zebra stripes adorning parts of their body. Zebroids are more wild than domestic, are hard to tame, and are more aggressive than horses.

Coywolf

Coyotes are very genetically close to red and eastern wolves, with whom they diverged only about 150-300,000 years ago. Interbreeding between them is not only possible, but becoming more common as wolf populations rebound. Coyotes are not, however, very compatible with gray wolves, which have about 1-2 million years of genetic estrangement separating them. Some hybrids do exist, though they are rare

There are a number of different coywolf hybrids, and their populations dot North America. Generally, they are larger than coyotes but smaller than wolves, and share behavioral characteristics of both species.

Grolar Bear

Grolar bears, also called “pizzly bears” by the less charitable, are a cross between polar and brown bears. Their natural ranges rarely, if ever, overlap, and most grolar bears live in zoos. However, there have been a handful of confirmed sightings in the wild. In 2006, an Alaskan hunter shot one.

They look pretty much like an even split between polar and grizzly bears. Behaviorally, they are closer to polar bears than to browns.

Savannah Cat

This uncommon but awesome breed of housecat is a cross between a domestic cat and a Serval, a kind of wild cat that lives in Africa. They are exceptionally large and behave remarkably like dogs, following their owners around the house, wagging their tails to express pleasure, and even playing catch. Savannahs also do not fear water, and will invite themselves into the shower with you. Unfortunately, they are extremely expensive.

Wholphin

When a male false killer whale and a female bottlenose dolphin love each other very much, they produce a wolphin. “Wolphin” is a portmanteau of “whale” and “dolphin,” which is misleading. False killer whales are actually not a whale, and are in the same family as dolphins.

Nevertheless, they are extremely rare. They are occasionally spotted in the wild, and there is currently only one individual in captivity.

   

Beefalo

Beefalo are crosses between buffalo and cows. They’ve been around since the 1800s, when they were called “cattalo.” Beefalo are heartier than cattle, and do less ecological damage to the prairies they graze on. However, beefalo breeding has led to conservation problems for wild bison. It is now estimated that only four total herds still exist that are not polluted by cow genes.

Hinny

Hinnies are basically reverse mules. A mule is a product of a male donkey and a female horse, and a hinny is a product of a male horse and a female donkey. Their heads look like horse heads, and they are slightly smaller than mules. They’re also much less common.

Narluga

Narwhals and Belugas are the only two members of the monodontidae family of whales, so it should be no surprise that they are able to crossbreed. However, they are extraordinarily rare. Sightings have been increasing in the Northern Atlantic recently, which some researchers consider a warning sign of climate change.

Cama

Camas did not exist until 1998. Some mad scientist at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai decided to cross a male dromedary camel with a female lama via artificial insemination, and out popped the first Cama. The intention was to breed them to produce fur that could be clipped and sold, and to serve as a pack animal. To date, only five have ever been produced.

Dzo

The dzo (male) and dzomo (female) are hybrids between domestic cows and wild yaks. They exist mostly in Tibet and Mongolia, where they are prized for their high yield of meat and milk. They are larger and stronger than both cows and yaks, and are used as beasts of burden.

The lines can blur – it is believed that most yaks and cows in the region now carry at least some of the other’s genetic imprint.

Leopon

If a male leopard is intrepid enough to mate with a female lion, a Leopon is the result. It’s almost impossible for this combination to occur in the wild, and every known Leopon has been the product of breeding in captivity. Leopons appear to have the head and mane of a lion, and the body of a leopard.

Geep

Goats and sheep appear to be very similar, but they are more different than you might suspect. Natural hybrids between the two animals are typically stillborn, and if they aren’t, occur extremely rarely. An animal called a “sheep-goat chimera” has also been produced by artificially combining goat and sheep embryos.

Jaglion

A Jaglion is the offspring of a male jaguar and a female lion, and are very rare. The two pictured above were the result of a close friendship between a jaguar named Diablo and a lioness named Lola, who were bosom buddies at Ontario’s Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary. They’re named Jahzara (left) and Tsunami (right).

Mulard

The Mulard is a cross between a mallard and a muscovy duck. The muscovy duck is native to South and Central America, and is easily recognized by its bright red Darth Maul face. Mulards are bred for food, and are unable to produce offspring of their own

Żubroń

The żubroń is a cross between a domestic cow and a European bison (also called a “wisent”). They are, in many ways, superior to the domestic cow, as they are stronger and more resistant to disease. They were thought to be a possible replacement for cattle, but now only exist in one small herd in the Bialowieski National Park in Poland.

Blacktip Shark Hybrid

Until recently, there were no known hybrid shark species. But the Australian black-tip shark is mating with the common black-tip, and are regularly spotted on the Eastern Australian coast. Opinion is divided about exactly why they have begun to hybridize.

  

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Standing at 6’4” Tall, a Cow Named Blosom, is Officially Recognized as the Tallest Cow by Guinness World Records

Although she is no longer alive, the 2,000-lb cow was announced as the new record holder on June 25.

Blosom, who was named by Guinness as the world's tallest living cow last August, died on a farm in northern Illinois on May 26, after holding that record for less than a year.

Guinness World Records said that the 13-year-old female Holstein will “live on in the record books as the world's tallest cow eve”.

The average weight for a mature Holstein cow is 1,500 pounds and 'top producing Holsteins' have been known to produce more than 72,000-lb of milk in a year when milked three times a day, according to Holstein Association USA.

“The funny thing about Blosom was how unaffected she was by all the attention that seemed to surround her”, Blosom's owner, Patty Meads-Hanson, told Guinness World Records following the news of the animal's latest record.

“As long as she had her oats, daily chin rubs and ear scratches, life was good.” she said.

Hanson said she is not sure what was wrong with Blosom, but had to have her put down after two veterinarians said they could not save her.

On Facebook, at the time of Blosom's passing, Hanson later wrote that the animal had seemed to have slipped in the mud and damaged a ligament in her hip causing her to never be able to stand.

Hanson said Blosom was buried in her favorite pasture, with her head facing east toward the farm. 

Hanson, who had Blosom since she was eight weeks old, said she knew the animal was special when she was a calf. 

After learning the cow could not bear a calf, Hanson decided to keep her as a pet instead of sending Blosom to slaughter, RRStar.com reported.

Blosom was born to two normal sized cows and was at her tallest when she was eight years old, Hanson told Guinness World Records.

“Blosom is the pride of the farm,” Hanson said in an interview last year. “I love to share her with my guests and she loves to greet them. 

Many of my guests come from the city, and to have a cow officially greet them adds to the ambiance of the farm.”

Hanson said she sought the record after veterinarians, the cow's foot trimmer and her father constantly noted Blosom's large size.

At the end of May 2014, family and friends began documenting Blosom's large size through photos and videos. Her official measurements were taken by a vet from Orangeville Animal Health Service.

In October 2014, Patty and Blosom posed for their official Guinness World Records photo.

Blosom will appear in the 2016 edition of the Guinness World Records book which will be out in September.

Last week, Hanson also shared news on Facebook that PETA had extended condolences following Blosom's passing, and that a gold leaf would be added to their Tree of life memorial at its national headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.

Following the news Hanson wrote on Facebook: “I am very proud of Blosom, and thrilled that PETA views her worthy of this huge honor and recognition! Her memory lives on”.

Hanson said she cannot wait for its release and that she misses Blosom 'terribly'.

“I will cherish our memories forever,” she said. “I am excited for the world to meet Blosom in the 2016 edition, but I know it will be very bittersweet.” She said.

The previous title holder for the tallest cow ever was a 6-foot-2 Holstein-Durham cross called Mount Katahdin who held the title from 1906-1910.

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Mutilated Animal Carcasses Found Around Sacramento, California

It started when someone left a 120-pound cow head in a park.

At first, investigators in Sacramento wondered if that someone was a hunter, one who had accidentally left something behind. Then another cow head appeared nearby not long after, followed over the next few months by a series of gruesome packages containing dead goats, chickens, rats, fish, lambs and even a tortoise, according to the Sacramento Bee.

In most cases, the carcasses being left around California’s capital city are headless, but strangely blood free, aside from one instance in which a package contained bowls of what was described as “bloody oatmeal,” the Bee reported.

Since the first cow head was discovered in December, authorities have logged at least a dozen instances of mutilated animals being found around the city, often near train tracks, according to NBC affiliate KCRA.

The killings almost always involve livestock, and never cats and dogs, investigators say.

In March, the Humane Society offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the mutilations.

“These animals were mutilated and killed for no apparent reason and discarded as though they were trash,” the Humane Society’s Eric Sakach said at the time. “We are hopeful that this reward will bring forward anyone with information about these disturbing crimes.”

But more than six months after the killings began, authorities say they still don’t know who, or what, they’re dealing with.

Gina Knepp, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Animal Control, told Reuters that some packages have included bloody dollar bills, oil and seeds that are known to be used in some Afro-Caribbean religions.

And yet, she admits, investigators are stumped.

“It’s bizarre,” Knepp said. “We don’t know if it’s religion; we don’t know if we have a sick individual in our community that simply likes to cut the heads off animals and dump them where people can see them.”

On Monday, the city released surveillance footage that appears to show a woman dropping off bags that included a beheaded goat carcass, as well as red hens, a rat and a catfish.

The woman, who struggled with the weight of the object, can be seen getting out of a white van and dropping off the packages before getting back into the vehicle less than a minute later and driving away.

  

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