Protection Farms -- daily counting of cows

[Guest guest]

mark chatburn wrote:

 

> > Pancaratna ACBSP wrote:

> >

> > > A business model for this would have to start

> > with:

> > >

> > > Mortgage free land placed in a trust in which the

> > cows are the beneficiaries

> > > and with trustees who are not proprietors of the

> > business. The trust would

> > > contract with the business to manage the farm on

> > certain principles and take

> > > the profit, less 25% which would go back into the

> > trust. The trust would

> > > keep this fund in an endowment to guarantee the

> > protection of the cows by

> > > hiring cow herds in the future if the business

> > fails.

>

> Right, to ensure their lifetime protection it would

> probably be better for land to be assured, as their

> ultimate home if all else fails. Here in Argentina,

> all animals are lte loose on enormous tracts of land -

> grass-fed beef. Therefore, the basic minimum care is

> for land to satisfy their feeding needs summer and

> winter. Beyond that what is the basic minimum? A visit

> once a month?

 

Lord Krsna, the foremost among all cowherds, demonstrated by His

personal activities at least three principles which should be followed

for cow protection if possible:

 

1. Rotational grazing. Krsna and His cowherd boyfriends would move the

cows to fresh grazing grounds each day. The practical application of

this method in modern times is rotational grazing. As a scholar of

environmental protection, I'm sure that you can appreciate how

rotational grazing protects Mother Earth from soil erosion, etc.

 

2. Giving each cow or bull a name. Krsna would call each animal by

it's name and the animals would respond by lowing affectionately. The

practical application of this principle in modern times is that the name

establishes a personal relationship with the cow or bull -- thus

reducing its chance of being slaughtered. Oddly enough, there is at

least one large project in ISKCON where many bull calves go unnamed.

 

3. Counting the cows daily. When Krsna brought the cows back to the

village for the night, He would count the cows using a string of

jewels. The practical application of this principle in modern times is

that under any effective cow protection program, the cows and bulls must

be counted at least once a day -- just as Krsna did. Otherwise, a cow

might wander off and get caught in some dangerous place -- or cows that

are down because they are ill will not be detected by the cowherd. And,

worst of all, if it is known that the cowherds are not vigilant about

counting the cows, it becomes an invitation for cattle rustlers to come

and steal the animals and kill them.

 

All these principles exemplified by Lord Krsna are addressed by various

rules in ISKCON's Minimum Cow Protection Standards.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi