Compassionate farmer saves cows
Source: Robert Bye on Unsplash
Vegetarian beef farmer gives herd to animal sanctuary
A vegetarian farmer has given his herd of cows to an animal sanctuary to protect them from the slaughterhouse.Jay Wilde, 59, who farms in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, sent 63 cattle to a Norfolk rescue centre as he could no longer bear to send them to be killed.
Mr Wilde, a vegetarian for 25 years, grew up herding cows and took over the family farm when his father died.
"Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I've even seen them cry," he said.
"It was very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death."
The Hillside Animal Sanctuary near Frettenham said 30 of the cows are pregnant and all the animals "would live out their lives essentially as pets".
Founder, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde is not the first farmer to have donated his herd.
She recalls a couple who "could not bear to continue dairy farming and kept their cows as pets with the help of the sanctuary".
Mr Wilde, who switched from dairy farming to organic beef production on the death of his father in 2011, said he always wanted to give up animal production because he "couldn't believe it was right to eat them".
He believes dairy farming is particularly hard because calves and cows would often become distressed on separation.
"I'm relieved to have made the decision to no longer farm animals, something which I always found quite upsetting," he said.
His brother-in-law told him he was "absolutely insane" to give away cattle which could fetch up to £40,000 at market.
He said "a lack of imagination" had previously stopped him switching to arable farming.
Mr Wilde will now be running a vegan organic market farm supplying garden produce without using animal products or fertilisers.
This story about Yvonne the cow was a few months before I turned vegetarian (the best decision that I have ever made):
http://t.co/8BFH1gf How did I miss this story about #Yvonne the #cow. It BRIGHTENS UP a DULL DAY. I should TRY goING vegetarian again.— Graham Mad Teacher (@madteacher72) 3 de septiembre de 2011
Comments
I know this is the best headline that you can see to enjoy. Mr. Wilde, a vegetarian beef farmer, gives his herd to animal sanctuary. In the Hillside Animal Sanctuary the animal would live out their lives essentially as pets. It’s wonderful. I propose that you are the general manager of this Sanctuary.
Mr. Wilde will be running a vegan organic market farm supplying garden produce without animal products or fertilisers, because he has to send products to market to earn money and can live. It’s okay. But I wonder if when this compassionate farmer eats vegetables and other foots from the garden, couldn’t he think that vegetables are living being like cows? Vegetables suffer too.
He said that his brother in law is insane and that he had got a lack of imagination to switch the ground to arable farming. I agree. However, I think his brother in law will become a new vegetarian farmer ten years later like Mr. Wilde. There are a lot of people who become vegetarian and in this article it says that Mr. Wilde is not the first farmer that had donated his herd.
See you.
How many times have I heard that vegetables suffer too? It is unbelievable (one of your favourite words) that some people ridicule vegetarians. What Jay Wilde did is to be admired.
I know this is the headline that you enjoy reading the most. Mr. Wilde, a vegetarian beef farmer, gives his herd to animal sanctuary. In the Hillside Animal Sanctuary the animal would live out their lives essentially as pets. It’s wonderful. I propose you for the job of general manager of this Sanctuary.
...