This is not how a healthy lactating Holstein looks

I know dairy cows can be skinny looking… but that cow appears outright emaciated. And that means the calf is going to be underfed as well. Stupid ARAs clamoring about abuse when there is none and then celebrating abuse as ‘good’ when actually faced with it.

Holsteins are bred to metabolise everything to produce as much milk as possible, hence appearing thin. Checked out the FB page, literally been days since the cow jumped off a slaughter truck and gave birth, after being in the dairy industry?? Of course she’s not going to look the best. The whole point is the sanctuary saved her and her calf from being killed??? If you watch the video the calf appears fine in its movements and behaviour. What abuse is being done to a cow in an animal sanctuary??

The word sanctuary means nothing. Any place can call itself a sanctuary. Having an arbitrary word attached to their name doesn’t mean they take good care of their animals, as exhibited by 90% of ‘big cat sanctuaries’.

Speaking as an animal science major, this cow is extremely underweight. Yes, dairy cattle are supposed to be bony looking, and yes you’re supposed to see their ribs and hips- TO AN EXTENT. You should not be able to see her thoracic vertebrae arching up between her shoulders like that nor be able to easily see the divot in her neck before the shoulder. Also, the hips and rib are too sharply visible and her gut is immensely sucked in. She also has absolutely no fat on her chest floor, which should look full and a little boxy to indicate sufficient cover. Holsteins are also bred to produce more milk than they can feed to their calves alone, and her lack of productivity, combined with her physical state, is extremely alarming. I’m actually surprised this animal didn’t suffer from dystocia while birthing her calf or suffer complications related to what is obviously an insufficient diet. I wouldn’t be surprised at all either if this animal had a wasting disease such as Johnes ( which she could easily transmit to her calf). Honestly I’d also take the calf off of her anyways too so that she at least has a chance of surviving. It’s not feasible to maintain even normal bodily functions in that state for long, let alone try to feed a calf.

This is an image of what your average, healthy Holstein should look like. Notice how despite being a lactating cow, she actually has some muscle and shape to her and yes, while you can see her ribs and the point of her hip, you can’t see her vertebrae forming a sharp peak, and the transition between her shoulder and neck is smooth. She also has a bit of fat filling out her chest floor. I literally pulled this image straight from Wikipedia. That’s how easy it is to find an image of a Holstein in proper condition. A Holstein with udders like that is the least of your concern with the animal(and besides, even if allowed to naturally milk their calf, only beef cattle tend to have that small of udders- usually because they aren’t producing enough milk to feed their calf long term). The cow in the original post is perilously close to emaciation, and her body is sacrificing milk production literally to save itself.