How Gisela Survived The Dairy Farm

This is the true story about Gisela, a dairy cow who suffered even more than most, and how she was rescued and given a chance to experience love.

The incredibly high milk yield and intensive mechanical milking schedules that dairy cows are subjected to usually means they are physically and emotionally spent by 5 and a half years old. They are then sent to slaughter. Their broken bodies only good enough for pet food and hamburgers.

Gisela did not have that ‘luxury’. She was seen as being highly productive and she was kept in production for 16 years — that is three times longer than normal! And those extra years were not a gift of joy and life. Instead they dramatically increased the suffering she endured.

During that time, she would have produced over 160,000 liters of milk. That is between 28 and 60 liters a day. If she had been a normal cow, living a natural life, her calves would have only required her to produce a maximum of 17,000 liters of milk over that same time period — only a tenth of what she actually produced!

Gisela’s high level of milk production came at a terrible price for her. In order for her to produce the volume of milk required to keep her profitable, she would have been artificially inseminated from the tender age of 2 years old, and continuously impregnated each year after that.

While she was living on the dairy farm, she would have given birth to about 14 calves. Each of those calves represents a living being whom she carried in her womb for 9 months. And Gisela, like us, was a warm-blooded mammal. She experienced the pain and physical complications of birth. And she also experienced the joy and rush of oxytocin upon meeting her newborn calf.

And, when the calf was taken away from her, and while she was being milked mercilessly by machines, she grieved deeply and called out for her calf for months.

As the years passed by, the intensive milking drained her body’s nutrient stores. She got weaker, and she was listless without motivation. Instead of being shown compassion, her suffering increased dramatically. In order to keep her moving and compliant, she was beaten mercilessly and often. At the end, her tail was broken, and her eyes were injured, leaving her partially blind.

Inevitably Gisela’s milk production waned, and she was scheduled to be slaughtered.

Then a miracle happened! Steffen, one of the farm workers who had known her for years, bought her freedom and took her to a retirement home for cows in northern Germany, Stiftung Hof Butenland.

After the many years of intensive birthing and milking, abuse and grieving, Gisela’s body and spirit were broken. She was so weak that her chances of survival were slim. Throughout the winter of 2010 the carers at the sanctuary nursed her gently back to health. The spark of hope and curiosity in her grew daily as she learned to trust the new humans in her life.

The dedicated team at the sanctuary were overjoyed when Gisela recovered. They recognized her as an individual to be loved. A sentient, precious being. And they called her by her name. She was no longer merely a number.

Unfortunately, there was one indignity she could not escape, the sanctuary was not legally allowed to remove the tags from her ears. The veterinary office regularly inspects the residents at the sanctuary to ensure this law is enforced. So, she was forever marked for death, despite escaping from the slaughterhouse.

Then in the summer of 2011, Gisela’s second miracle happened! Dina, a 2-year old dairy cow had run away from a dairy farm and been taken in by the sanctuary. When Dina arrived, she was already pregnant with her first calf and after only a few days, she gave birth to a male calf. They named him Mattis.

Gisela immediately assumed the role of grandmother. It was as if all the love she had been saving up for her stolen calves, now had an outlet and at last, she had been given a chance to look after a calf, even if he wasn’t her own.

Her joy seemed to know no bounds as she patiently helped the young Dina be a first-time mother and she flourished as she showered Mattis with all of her affection and attention. The enduring and truly loving bond they developed was obvious for all to see.

Seeing the joy Gisela felt when she was with Mattis and how much attention and affection she lavished on him, truly shines a spotlight on how much grief and distress she must have felt when her own calves were stolen from her, many times over.

She lived two glorious summers with Mattis at the sanctuary, giving and receiving love and nurturing.  

In those last two years, despite her physical injuries, Gisela had a life worth living. Her life mattered to her and to everyone who knew her. She experienced love, compassion and respect.

On September 25, 2012, Gisela passed away quietly, in peace and dignity, surrounded by her loving family and friends.

Gisela was a gentle-hearted, affectionate individual with a strong will to live despite all the misery piled upon her by the dairy-consuming public. It was both cruel and unethical to invade her bodily integrity, forcibly impregnate her, steal her calves, and misappropriate the milk her body produced for her calves.

Even if all dairy cows were retired humanely rather than being thanklessly slaughtered, could anyone honestly look into Gisela’s eyes, see her suffering, and believe the milk they consume is worth the suffering she endured?

Could you?

The truth is there is no need for animals to be exploited for food. Nothing justifies the suffering and indignities Gisela went through.

The solution is simple: go vegan.

We can be vegan and be healthy.
We can be vegan and be happy.
We can be vegan and be accepted.
We can be vegan and be satisfied.