Cow down -- pregnant cow is shot at California State Fair

I've never been much of a fan of circuses, because of the exploitive animal acts, or the animal exhibits at state and county fairs. A cow made out of butter is one thing; a cow who's very pregnant and corralled into some display at a fair just so people can exhibit the "miracle of birth" -- that's a no-go.

At the recent California State Fair, people got to witness the "miracle of death." A very pregnant cow understandably panicked in this alarmingly unfamiliar place as she was being herded into a "birthing pen." She broke free, knocked over a police officer and ran through the fairgrounds before it opened. Officials said they tried to tranquilize her and couldn't, so police shot her to death -- four times in the head, three times in the body.

I appreciate the argument that children need to see real animals in real life to understand their life cycles. (It's unfortunately the same argument people use for not spaying and neutering their pets -- which more often than not results in the "surplus" puppies and kittens being dumped at animal shelters, on the taxpayers' dime, and maybe getting adopted or maybe not -- or just being dumped, period.)

But why stop at birth at some fair? If you want kids to know about animal and farm life, take them to a farm. This isn't like a zoo, where the animals are 10,000 miles away. This is California, the state that feeds the world. Don't force the animals to come to the "audience," and certainly don't force them into unnatural and arguably cruel "stunts," like pig races and live-birth exhibits ("Bear down, Bossy -- we've got some fourth-graders on their way over from the deep-fried s'mores stand").

A farm is a far better place to see what animals do and don't do naturally -- and all the better if kids get a look at not just free-range farm animals, but the kind of unnatural, wretched factory farming and appalling feedlots that Big Ag has created to deliver the cheap chicken nuggets and double-deck burgers that people only think of as arriving on the plate -- never existing on the hoof.

And as long as we're talking learning experiences, how about field trips to the slaughterhouses too? If it's important to witness birth, what about the ugly manner of death that happens to make those burgers and nuggets? Farm kids and rural kids know what you have to do to kill your food; it's dishonest for Americans to pretend that their meat comes like something from a lab, all nice and tidy and pink and plastic-packaged, without recognizing or acknowledging that it was once part of a living creature -- like the cows and calves at the fair -- that had to be killed and cut up to get to our plates.

Put all of that in a state fair, too, and then maybe we can talk about a birthing exhibit.

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-- Patt Morrison

Photo: A screen grab from YouTube user abcchadin's video of the cow running through the fairgrounds pursued by a vehicle

Comments

[L.A. Voter]

Thank you for reporting this story. This just shows the phenomenal gulf between the fictions people tell themselves and others, and the reality of what we do to animals. You really couldn't have a better example than using a living creature to promote the fiction of "the miracle of the birth of a calf," then, when the living creature reacts in a way that, while completely understandable for her, is inconvenient for humans, out the window goes the "miracle" and the terrified cow gets four bullets in the head, three bullets in the body -- and the calf dies too. That's what you get for acting up when you're not the one holding the gun.

It's worth noting that the fiction also ignores the fact that when "the miracle of birth" happens to the male calf of a dairy cow (since dairy cows only give milk, like all mammals, after giving birth, it's a "miracle" that keeps being artificially induced until the cow's body wears out) that male calf is going to be immediately after birth pulled from his mother -- either to be sold for veal or left to starve and drown in the mud and feces-filled lot.

We treat animals like Dixie cups. We take sentient creatures who feel fear and pain and we use them, tear them apart, and throw them out like trash. The planners of this exploitative travesty of a "fair" dreamed up a neat new way to make a sideshow of a living creature and never even considered that a pregnant animal might have fears or emotions at being put into a frightening situation at such a time. This was animal abuse, plain and simple, and who's going to get arrested for the death of this cow? No one. Everyone, from the idiots who planned this, to the handlers and police who couldn't be bothered to find a humane way to end it, have all already exonerated themselves, and this poor cow, the only one who did nothing wrong, died a horrific and terrifying death.

And why is it that if this story had been about a dog everyone would be outraged, but because it happened to a cow no one is really going to care? Not one person who is responsible for this death is even going to lose his or her job. After all, some animals are just diposable fodder for our thoughtless violence. But let's all be outraged because some woman scared a cat by putting her in a garbage can...

[Former Ag Teacher]

Police officers are the last people you want helping with a livestock emergency. They tend to bring their "subdue the perpatrator" mindset to the event. That only exaccerbates the problem. Preganant dairy cows do not want to run. If not pursued closely, they generally will stop within a very short distance. The other problem with involving police officers in livestock incidents is their lack of knowledge in shot placement in animals. Hence the need for seven rounds.

[Vegan for 20 Years]

Thank you for a poignant article, especially for the call to share real farm life as well as slaughterhouses with kids; they should know how much their food suffered in life and death.

[Laura Frisk]

If the general public were exposed to the animal abuse that is rampant in factory farms and slaughterhouses today, more people would be vegan. Animals experience fear and pain just like we do. Thanks for printing Pat Morrison's excellent and informative article.

[michelle Lo]

Well said Pat and that is why everybody should boycott zoos and circuses.

I find it hard to believe that the only way they could have stopped the pregnant cow was to shoot her. How much harm could she have caused and whom exactly was she endangering except herself and the baby?? The farmer, the fair ground personnel, and the police should all be blamed for this tragedy.

[Eric Mills]

I attended a special hearing on this matter at CalExpo on August 23. The Fair's CEO & Genl Mgr, Norbert Bartosik, stated that the very pregnant cow (due to deliver the following day) received five body shots, then, after she was down, four more in the head. It was neither a quick or humane death for either the cow or her unborn calf. Two empty casings were unaccounted for. Perhaps a wounded patron or two crawled off to die, too.....

It should further be noted that, on the evening news, the attending vet, Dr. Ben Norman, of UC Davis, referred to the distraught cow as a "nutcase" and "mean," before ordering the Security cops to gun her down (along with her unborn calf). Not a guy I would want treating MY animals.

Every veterinary study I've seen confirms that pregnant animals on the verge of delivery need peace and quiet and solitude, away from bright lights and noisy crowds. The Fair birthing displays fly in the face of that commonsense advice, and the vets betray their own ethics when they promote and condone these stressful exhibits. I wonder how many animals abort during transportation during the final days of their pregnancy?

It should also be noted that the birthing exhibit featured four sows in various stages of pregnancy and delivery, all crowded in those godawful all-metal "farrowing crates," barely able to move, and close enough to touch, if anyone wished to do so. Had the sows stood up, they could easily have crushed their piglets.

I'm convinced that birthing exhibits should be banned. There are better and more humane ways to educate the public. I'm also convinced that most people want to see MOTHERS & THEIR BABIES, not the actual birth process itself. STATE LEGISLATION IS IN ORDER TO BAN THESE EXHIBITS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR AND ALL COUNTY FAIRS.

ALL LEGISLATORS MAY BE WRITTEN C/O THE STATE CAPITOL, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814.

Meanwhile, write to the CalExpo Board of Directors (Gil Albiani, chair) and ask that these inhumane exhibits be dropped: calexpoboard@calexpo.com. And ask your own veterinarian to do likewise: it'd help.

Sincerely,
Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland

[Bold Chapeau]

Giving birth is about as painful and stressful as it gets. The very idea of heaping even more stress on an animal in the throes of labor by using her as entertainment for gawking crowds in a chaotic and unfamiliar place is beyond outrageous. What insensitive dullard thought that one up? Probably someone from the rodeo crowd...

[Barbara Bryan]

It's unfortunate that someone thought it was a good idea to include a live birthing exhibit at the California State Fair. It's bad enough that dairy cows spend their lives perpetually pregnant, unable to suckle their newborns for more than a few hours before the calf is forceably taken from them. After their reproductive capability is spent, these cows are slaughtered for hamburger meat. This cow suffered the additional horror of running for her life, after being spooked by strange surroundings at the time of her delivery. Pursued by police, she was shot seven times, because they feared she was a threat to public safety. The intent of the birthing exhibit, satisfying the public fascination with reality, didn't include any thought about the welfare of the cow and her calf. How sad and shortsighted is that?

[Palomino Gal]

The heyday of California's 'state fair" in the traditional sense is long over, but the organizers refuse to get real. They are desperately trying to hang on to the last vestiges of "country" to keep the event from completely devolving into an annual low-end town carnival. Which is exactly where it's heading. The "birthing" exhibits are a last-gasp attempt to salvage the dewey vision of California's "agricultural heritage"--whatever that means. Filthy feedlots, battery cages, medieval farrowing crates, slaughterhouse workers pushing downed cows along the ground with forklifts have also long been part of the "ag" tradition of this state. Clearly, the whole tradition thing needs an overhaul. The "birthing exhibits" are anachronisms. They are exploitative and worthless as "educational" tools for the average fair-goer, who's by and large focused on the deep-fried Twinkies. It's time for the state fair's organizers to figure out what this event is supposed to be going forward and "birth" a new vision for it. One that eliminates the exploitation of animals and sows the seeds of appreciation for farmed animals as something more than "dinner."

[Susan Trout]

Patt Morrison, thank you!

Truly one of the most well-written, articulate responses to this senseless atrocity and, the concept of how we view and treat animals in general.

A hundred years from now (hopefully!) mankind will look back on how we treated these innocent, voiceless beings and we will gasp in disbelief.

I would be proud to shake your hand!

Again, thank you!

[L.A. Voter]

Former Ag Teacher - Really? You really think the issue here is that police officers know nothing about "shot placement"? Absolutely -- the only thing wrong in this story is the number of shots.

FYI, the problem with this story is that ignorant and vicious people including, apparently, a vet, terrified and killed a living creature. The problem is that an animal did something perfectly reasonable, but inconvenient for a bunch of heartless cretins, and they ran her down and blew her head off. The problem is that animals are used for human entertainment and competition, and invariably the animals lose. The problem is not police, it's humans.

[Susan Shaddock]

Surely you jest. Had the Einsteins who cooked this up (so to speak) ever been around an animal about to give birth? Why would any thinking person decide that this was a good idea? And with a university veterinarian, no less; what was he going to do if there was a problem with the birth? Probably have the well-trained police shoot her, as I can't imagine him knowing enough to stick his arm up to the shoulder in the cow's or sow's vagina. For God's sake, had these dimwits had no training at all? They obviously were lacking in compassion. This goes a long way toward explaining my abhorrence of State & county fairs, zoos, circuses, diving pigs and swimming donkeys, not to mention rodeos and racetracks.

[Lyn Garrison]

We have written to the the fairs in California for many years to please stop using animals as entertainment. The fair environment is incredibly disturbing with the hideous smells of burning food, animal waste, etc. What is the goal of the fair? To proudly show the various ways that an animal can be used, abused and then killed? We are not the only family who does NOT find the fair a fun environment. Many families have opted for other ways to enjoy the summer which do not include the exploitation of living beings. Many people do not like their children to see this meanness toward animals that adults are so callous and insensitive about.

[Patricia Welty]

Perhaps all community, city, county and state fairs should have stringent regulations regarding how animals are brought into the fair, what physical conditions will be prohibited to protect the welfare of animals and fair-goers, and how the animals are maintained and housed. This poor cow was terrified; and the police could've tranquilized her instead of killing her.

I agree with the writer's thoughts that, if we want to teach our children about animals' lives, we can take them to a farm or animal sanctuary. What did the children at the fair, who witnessed this entire display, learn this time?

[mla]

im discusted by this...miracle birth? by godness...the length people go to live off animals....what was she shot to death? for panicking while being pregnant and afraid? for crying out loud..she was pregnant! idiot who shot her...im saden by this...will not be attending any fair were they are using animals for people onjoyment. A nations moral progress is measure by the way its animals are treated!

[flipper]

Poor, poor soul. What a horror. And the bullets are the least of it, though of course those get focused on, this being a CA publication.

The horror is that this bovine mother was in the control of such exploitive, insensate, spectacle-minded excuses for "humans."

Humans just never learn, and the few who do, don't do anything about it. This sort of thing should be laid at the door of the State Fair, and State Fairs all over the nation. Most of them encourage the exploitation and terrorizing of animals as a spectacle--sheep rodeos, regular rodeos, caged animals being prodded and scrubbed and probed so their owners can get a shiny piece of blue cloth....

And people pour in for the corn dogs and funnel cakes, to point at these creatures and tell themselves they Saw The Animals...before going over to the Puke-a-Whirl.

But that's life in California, and in agricultural civilization. Shed all sense of modesty, decency, and propriety. Or die.

[Marie]

Thank you, darlin'.

So nice to know people care.

[At Heart]

Wow, this is sad and horrifying - and it makes me glad on two fronts: that I'm a vegetarian and that I skip state fairs. I have no issue with meat eating, per say, but the way the majority of Americans get their meat is not just cruel, it's also completely unsustainable and unhealthy for us and the planet. I wish more people would choose to open their eyes to the reality of meat production in America; I hope your article helps.