Residents Told Not To Be Alarmed by Mourning Cows

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A lot of “strange noises” were coming from the Sunshine Dairy Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts, earlier this week, causing some alarm among nearby residents. Concerned phone calls came into the police department between midnight and 7AM reporting “inhuman” sounds, but callers were told not to worry – they were just the moans from mourning cows who recently had their baby calves taken away from them.

Newbury police Sgt. Patty Fisher said that it’s the annual separation of cows and calves, and the cries and moans are all part of the process. “It happens every year at the same time,” she said.

The concerned phone calls over the sounds prompted Sgt. Fisher to post a message on the police station’s Facebook page:

“Residents in the area of Sunshine Dairy Farm may notice loud noises coming from the dairy cows at all hours of the day and night. We’ve been informed that the cows are not in distress and that the noises are a normal part of farming practices.”

“Not in distress”? These cows carried their babies in their womb, gave birth to them, and then had them taken away from them. Now their milk, which was intended for their calf, is going to be pumped away for human consumption while their calf is destined for either a similar fate of a dairy cow if it’s a girl, or a short life of confinement while it’s fattened up and immobilized for a future veal dinner, if it’s a boy. All those moans and cries AREN’T a sign of distress? ON WHAT PLANET?

Hopefully those concerned citizens who heard those cries and moans are making connections that these “normal farming practices” are cruel and unnecessary. Cow’s milk belongs to baby cows! Currently, there are only a few comments on the short news article, but the majority of them are calling shenanigans on the police officer’s brush-off of a statement.

One commenter posted: “…They would not be crying out if they were not in distress. Any mother who had her baby taken away from her would be distressed.”

Another reader posted: “It doesn’t take many brains to know when an animal is in distress. Cows have very similar feelings to any other creature (including humans) that bonds with its offspring. This is inhumane.”

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