Buddha's Twelfth Birthday
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

From Gentle Barn Sanctuary

September 2012

[Ed. Note: Please also read Buddha's Eleventh Birthday and My Time with Buddha. If you haven't been to a farm animal sanctuary, go! If you haven't been in a while, go! To meet these amazing personalities face to face (again and again) will either move you toward veganism and/or it will reignite your passion for veganism.]

Last year [2011] when we celebrated Buddha's 11th birthday we feared it might be her last. Our vets said that cows like her live to about eight, plus she has horrible arthritis that is making it hard for her to walk. But after extensive chiropractic care, ultra sound, special supplements and TLC, we were graced with another year and we are so grateful! Please join us on Sunday, May 1st to celebrate Buddha's 12th birthday!

Several years ago we rescued a pig named Susie Q who escaped from a slaughter house. She was very depressed and laid in the corner of the Gentle Barn yard refusing to get up and eat food or drink water. At nightfall all the animals got up and went into the barn, leaving Susie Q alone. Buddha was just about to lie down in the soft, warm bed of shavings she always slept in, but she looked back and saw Susie Q by herself.

Instead of going to sleep in the barn that night, Buddha went back across the yard to lie next to the sad pig. Buddha stayed with Susie Q for 6 days, and then because she had a friend, Susie Q got up and together they ate, drank and slept in the barn. Buddha and Susie Q were best friends until Susie Q passed away from old age 3 years ago.

Buddha has taught empathy to hundreds of children, had stood still for hundreds of kids in wheelchairs to pet her, and let thousands of people hug her! She raises orphaned babies and is mom to us all. To thank her for a life of continued service and ambassadorship to her kind, we will celebrate her on her birthday.

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