A Cow's Dash for Freedom

It's a really sweet pod, and the cow was very cute for sure.

But do you think she knew she was destined for the slaughter house? How intelligent do you think cows are? I for one, am not planning to eat meat, for the rest of the week, at least!

I think that's an awesome choice to make to not eat meat for the week. You will definitely save a life or two...

"Cows are intelligent and curious animals who enjoy solving problems and interacting with their environment. They have long memories and are capable of learning lessons from each other, just as humans do...

Cows like challenges, and according to researchers, they feel excitement when they finish a task or use their intellect to overcome an obstacle. In an article on cow intelligence, a reporter writes that “Donald Broom, professor of animal welfare at Cambridge University, will tell the conference how cows can become excited by solving intellectual challenges. In one study, researchers challenged the animals with a task where they had to find how to open a door to get some food. An electroencephalograph was used to measure their brainwaves. ‘The brainwaves showed their excitement; their heartbeat went up and some even jumped into the air. We called it their Eureka moment,’ Professor Broom said.”4

Research has shown that cows clearly understand cause-and-effect relationships—a sure-fire sign of advanced cognitive abilities. For example, cows can learn how to push a lever to operate a drinking fountain when they’re thirsty or to press a button with their heads to release grain when they’re hungry.5,6 Like humans and other animals, cows also quickly learn to stay away from things that cause them pain, like electric fences and unkind humans.

Because of their complex social interactions, cows also have the ability to learn from each other, another indication of their intelligence, which is comparable to that of a dog and a bit higher than that of a cat. According the Humane Society of the United States, if an individual cow in a herd is shocked by an electric fence, the rest will become alarmed and learn to avoid it. Only a small fraction will ever be shocked.7
Cows Never Forget a Place or a Face

Cows don’t forget lessons that they’ve learned. Research has shown that these animals have impressive memories. Cows remember their homes and can find their way back to their favorite spots.

According to one report on cow behavior, cows “demonstrate good spatial memory (they remember where things are located). ... They can remember migration routes, watering holes, shelter and the location of their newborn calf.”8 Researchers also report that cows can remember the best eating spots in a pasture and that they use their spatial memory to guide themselves back to the best spots.9,10

Stories of cows who used their navigation capabilities to find their way back home after being sold at auction are common. Some cows never forget those who have hurt them either, and they’ve been known to hold grudges against other members of their herd. Rosamund Young details a quarrel between a grandmother cow and her daughter. Grandmother cows often help their daughters with mothering duties, but a cow named Olivia wanted no part of that. She never left her calf’s side, and she ignored her mother’s offers to help groom him. Offended, her mother finally marched off to another field to graze with her friends and never “spoke” to her daughter again.11 Cows can also remember and hold grudges against people who have hurt them or their family members.12

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4 Leake.
5 “Cows taught to use drinking fountain,” Washington Times, 17 Aug. 1993.
6 Trudy Frisk, “Features and Stories: Canny Cows,” CowboyLife.com, 2005.
7 Humane Society of the United States, “Beef Cattle,” HSUS Online, 2005.
8 Joseph M. Stookey, “Maternal Behaviour of Beef Cows,” University of Saskatchewan Online, 1997.
9 D.W. Bailey et al., “Association of Relative Food Availabilities and Locations by Cattle,” Journal of Range Management, Nov. 1989.
10 Bailey, p. 481.
11 Young, p. 30-1.
12 Leake."

Boneko, this is a very outdated and inaccurate statement to make. The protein myth was dispelled ages ago.

What you are claiming would mean that the millions and millions of vegetarians in this world should be malnourished - which is simply not true. Some of the most talented athletes and educated nutritionists and physicians advocate a plant-based diet, and thrive on one. This is not to say you HAVE to be veg to be healthy, but you can and it's relatively easy.

It has been proven time and time again that a plant-based diet can be incredibly healthy for you, the environment, and the animals.

for more info on this, visit http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/index.htm

Please HELP ME save this other cows!

Varnerj, you use terms like "circle of life" yet have no basis for what that means. Is industrial civilization, mass extinctions, pollution, population explosion, industrial agriculture and factory farming part of this "circle of life" you evoke? Or is it a massive system of exploitation and greed that we've developed OUTSIDE the so-called safe balance of the 'circle of life'?

The distinction you seek, when asking about plants-rights and quantifying the value of life is survival vs pleasure. No one is arguing that if you NEED to eat an animal, or else you'll die, that you shouldn't. We are speaking about abstaining from something that is both cruel and most importantly, unnecessary for MOST people. Not ALL people.

Secondly, we cannot know for sure if plants feel pain. We do know they have no brain or nervous system, yet they are alive. Regardless, the chance that plants might feel pain does not justify inflicting pain on something (a cow, chicken, etc) that we know for sure can feel pain.

Furthermore, think about the physiological purpose of why animals evolved to feel pain - so we can move away from a source of bodily or psychological harm. It does not make evolutionary or physiological sense for vegetation to feel pain in the same ways we can because they are rooted and cannot quickly move away from their source of damage.

Thanks for your response Joshua. I don't think eating meat causes suffering. I really don't. There are humane reasons to kill oneself just as there are humane reasons to eat prey. Cat, Dog, and Horse are delicacies in quite a few countries around the world so I also reject your notion that I might not see the reason to eat animals like these... (and yes if you're curious, I own a dog that I love very much and who we count as a member of the family). As a matter of fact we also use these animals as companions and for their skills in... you guessed it... hunting for other animals like ducks, quail, for consumption, and rats or other predators who can harm the domesticated animals for which we care.

I think I've made my point that we as a society eat too much meat. We do. But I think the bigger crime is not respecting the animals we consume. You can choose to not eat meat. That is your choice. I am suggesting that meat consumption be more humane, which I think is a very good middle ground to an argument that would force people to conform to your way of thinking.

I want to suggest Temple Grandin's books as a place to find the unity of both our concerns. Grandin is a noted Autistic writer who can be credited with the redesign of many US and Worldwide Abattoirs and who redesigned them towards the end of making them more humane in their treatment of animals. Her work is controversial, but eye opening. I hope you enjoy it and see the wisdom there.