On December 1st 2015, a rescue team from Pasado’s Safe Haven carefully transported 24 newborn and weeks-old baby goats to our sanctuary.
These babies were saved from being bludgeoned to death with a hammer at a local dairy. Sadly, this brutal practice is considered a “standard practice” and is legal and widely practiced by the dairy industry.
How can this be? Simply put – male babies are considered a “by-product” of milk production. They are taken from their mothers and killed with blows to the head within hours or days of birth and then tossed onto “dead piles” as trash. Most people are shocked to learn about this dark side of dairy because the industry does such a good job hiding it. They know that if people knew the truth they would not want to buy their products.
The babies are settling in to our Healing Barn and we can see their individual personalities shine through. Ralph always has a smile on his face, Eli is a great eater and Hermey loves to put his face right up next to yours. They are all sweet and curious and enjoy being around people.
Because these babies were taken from their mothers so early, many of them struggled with serious health issues. For the first several weeks we battled everything from lung infections to parasites and severe lice infestations.
The boys have received nearly round-the-clock care since their arrival and now that they’ve had extensive medical care, time to heal and lots of love they’re learning how to be “kids”. A favorite game for these little boys is to jump onto hay bales, boxes, or anything else they can get their hooves on.
If the story of these little goats moves you, consider reducing or eliminating dairy from your diet to help all the other babies who aren’t lucky enough to be rescued.
