"Jan is down!" Rachel's words jolted pattrice into action. After dashing up the hill, pattrice pounded on Pomme's door and they both brought the tractor to help Rachel try to save the life of a beloved sanctuary resident.

Jan jumped a beef farm fence while pregnant, giving birth to her son Justin in the freedom of the forest. She then led him to friendly people who took them to sanctuary.

That was back in 2013. Since then, the little calf in the photo above has grown up to be a leader of the back pasture herd while Jan has enjoyed 13 years of friendship and freedom in the forested acres of our expansive back pastures.

We estimate Jan's age to be upwards of sixteen, and she has shown some signs of aging, such as loss of muscle mass. We invited her down to the more comfortable terrain of the special needs herd, but she made it clear that she preferred to remain with her son and her friends.

But now she was down in a patch of mud, exhausted from trying to get up and in danger of bloating. And Cheryl—the cow-care expert who leads our animal care team—was out of town. But Rachel knew just what to do!

Rachel will be celebrating her ten year anniversary at the sanctuary this month. Her primary job is bird care, and she is particularly devoted to chickens, but she has also been fully trained in emergency cow care so that she can step up when Cheryl is away.

And step up she did. During emergencies like this, it doesn't matter what your title or regular job is: It's all hands on deck! The person who knows the most is in charge, and everybody else assists.

By the time pattrice and Pomme arrived with the tractor, Rachel had gotten Jan into an upright position. She belched immediately, lessening the likelihood of bloating. Then Rachel and Pomme crawled in the mud to get a sling under Jan while pattrice kept curious cows at bay. Pomme adjusted the sling as Rachel lifted the sling with the tractor.

Then came the journey down to the infirmary barn. Rachel drove, sometimes having to drive backwards down hills so that the weight would be evenly distributed. Pomme stayed by Jan, steadying her from swinging in the sling. Again pattrice tried to keep the other cows from interfering but some of them had never seen a rescue before and were understandably over-excited by the strange happenings. At one point, a stampede forced pattrice to jump behind a tree for safety!

But Rachel drove steadily and skillfully until Jan was near the entrance of the infirmary barn. When Rachel lowered her, Jan was able to stand! After a few days of resting and eating monumental quantities of hay in the infirmary barn, Jan was able to join the speial needs herd of cows who share the front pasture with goats and sheep. On the day she was released, she walked around greeting each new herd-mate in turn, presenting herself to be sniffed. Here she is introducing herself to Bella.

In other news, a calamity for staff turned out to be a boon for cows, goats, and sheep. Like many places, we've seen some weird weather lately, including heavy rainstorms. During one set of storms, a large tree in one of the foraging yards came down overnight. Luckily, it didn't damage any structures, but our on-site team started the day figuring out how to move it off the roof of the shed we use to (try to) hide the emu food from goats and sheep. That was a long, hard day!

But where humans see a problem to be solved, foraging herbivores see a salad bar! It only took a day for them to devour a tree's worth of leaves! That was a long, delicious day for the sheep, goats, and cows of the front pasture!

VINE cofounders Miriam Jones and pattrice jones met in the context of a disability rights struggle, and we have always incorporated disability rights principles into our work. Many VINE staff and volunteers are people with disabilities, and we won a Spirit of the ADA award from Vermont's Governor's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities in 2024. All of which is to say that we like to use the opportunity of Disability Pride Month each July to present some events that will help to make veganism and animal rights activism more accessible. Here's this year's line-up of Zoom events:

Shout-out to the elementary school students who raised the funds for the sling that we used to lift and carry Jan! Her ongoing care is made possible by the contributions of our generous extended community of sanctuary supporters. Donate today to help cover the high costs of hay, medicine, tractor fuel, and other necessities!