Love for Lilah Moo

“Lilah came to Broken Shovels in 2021, a 2-month old Texas Longhorn with some “leg issues.” We are rarely told the truth in surrender situations and were in shock when she arrived at the sanctuary. Immediately upon seeing her leg deformities, I knew recovery was an impossibility. Lilah had managed to cope with this birth defect for 2 months before coming to the sanctuary and she initially wasn’t very friendly. Who can blame her? The cattle farm she came from wasn’t very friendly to her. She was extremely limited in mobility and couldn’t do most things for herself and that was frustrating.

In the beginning, I found myself quickly putting her food and water in her stall. I didn’t spend much time with her. I told myself it was to give her time to adjust to new surroundings but hiding underneath that lie, I knew it was because I didn’t want to get attached. I had no idea how long we’d have with her. But it was pointless. I fell for Lilah …big time.

There might be people who think we are crazy to take care of a cow that can’t walk or stand. But wouldn’t you do this for a family member if they needed you? Or your beloved dog or cat? The value that has been placed on the lives on animals based on their worth to human use has conditioned us to see Lilah as dispensable, that her enjoyment of life is not worth it if we can’t make money off of her.

I’ll leave it at that.

She came to us in need. Our goal now is to give Lilah quality of life and believe me, she has it. She has plenty of animal and human friends, good food and gets gobs of attention. There is a lot to keep up with, and when I feel frustrated that what we are doing might not be enough, I just stop…and listen to Lilah for a minute. She’ll tell me what I need to know.” –Amber Heine, Sanctuary Manager

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