American Cows are Beginning to Receive Sanctuaries

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American Cows are Beginning to Receive Sanctuaries

http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/06/08/

national0135EDT0417.DTL

 

PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., June 8, 2003: Down an unmarked dirt road in a

hilly corner of eastern Pennsylvania, Sankar Sastri calls out to his

nine cows who, after a moment, romp around Sastri like children at

play. "They're all happy today," the former engineering technology

professor says. They have good reason to be for the cows live on

Sastri's Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary, one of a scattered web of safe havens

across the country protecting the animals from slaughter. Cows are

considered holy by Hindus like Sastri and are adored by some animal

lovers. On a recent soggy afternoon, standing beside his century-old

barn, Sastri moved among the cows, calling them by name. "This is Sita.

She's very loving. Look at the beautiful blue eyes," said Sastri. "We

say the cow is like a second mother to us. You wouldn't send your

mother to slaughter, would you?" A handful of other cow sanctuaries dot

the country.

 

For followers of Hinduism, cows have a historical and cultural sanctity

not easily understood in the West, said George Weckman, a professor who

teaches a course in Hinduism at Ohio University. Cows are considered

holy in ancient Hindu religious texts and stories. They are the living

symbol of a Hindu's reverence and respect for nature and all living

beings. Cows in India also are a practical cornerstone of life. Milk is

used for nourishment, dung for fuel and cow urine for medicinal

purposes. And to Hindus, cows are to be protected -- not eaten.

However, cows have won the hearts of non-Hindus in America as well.

Helga Tacreiter, who grew up loving dogs, runs a 13-cow sanctuary in

Shiloh, New Jersey, a project she started after working on a dairy

farm. "I met the cows and I was just wowed by them," said Tacreiter.

Tacreiter said she thinks of cows as people in the sense that dogs are

sometimes considered family members.

 

Such sanctuaries are like little islands in a nation that remains in

love with beef. Americans' consumption of beef went up from 66.6 pounds

per capita in 1995 to an estimated 68 pounds per capita last year,

according to the Department of Agriculture. At the Lakshmi Cow

Sanctuary, Sastri's eyes dance as he watches his cows wander away. He

wished more people knew them as well as he does. "They only see them as

meat," he said. "Animals have a soul, personality, they interact.

Unfortunately people don't see that."