THE FREE COWS FROM DESZCZNO MUST REMAIN FREE
180 free and happy cows ordered slaughtered in Poland
Western municipality of Deszczno, Poland, 2009. After years of experience in cow herding, two twin brothers, maybe tired of cows, decide to set their herd free and leave them unsupervised.
Today, 10 years later, there are around 180 cows wandering fields in the area of Deszczno. After having been roaming freely for a decade, they have now become part of the local landscape. It has also been noted that they have come to play a relevant role in the protection of local wildlife and plant diversity.
These peaceful cows have become an issue in the last few months. The problem is that they are not registered or supervised and checked for any diseases by a vet, thus representing an epidemiological threat to public safety and other animals’ health.
For this reason, in October 2018, the local veterinary service decided the herd must be slaughtered and their corpses destroyed. The procedure is going to be executed by the local vet, the finances for it are provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The decision was then approved by a court and endorsed by the Agriculture Minister. The conclusion was also based on Polish institutions’ fear to jeopardize the national meat industry, which recently experienced a series of scandals at a European Union level. A wild herd of cows with no appropriate medical checks could result in an EU embargo of beef from the country and this must be avoided at all costs, according to Polish politicians, even at the cost of sacrificing happy, healthy and free cows.
There are two ways of dealing with the issue:
– To kill all of the cows, and this is the Polish court and local institutions’ position, or
– To test them, register them, and let them live someplace. This is the only humane solution possible.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has expressed hope toward a peaceful and positive resolution. He tweeted: ‘I am certain they will find it, even though EU
rules call for the killing of these animals. Poles can do it!’
We hope these words to be honest ones…
For their part, Polish animal rights activists, gathered in an independent collective called ‘FreeCows Poland’ created specifically for this situation, have worked hard to solve the problem in a humane way and managed to find more than 500 people willing to adopt the cows, bulls and calves and take care of them until natural death.
The Collective has been camping near the herd for over a month and constantly looks after the wild cows. Since the formation of the collective, they have tried to create some sort of collaboration with the authorities and it must be admitted that their attitude definitely improved over time.
The situation is continually evolving. Refer to our FB page ‘OIPA International’ if you want to stay up to date on the wild herd of Deszczno!
These guys of good will need all of our support! If you would like to make a donation visit the following links:
https://www.ratujemyzwierzaki.pl/wolnekrowyzdeszczna or https://www.facebook.com/donate/347597502853486/1103993643132839/
Deszczno semi-feral cows live with their calves, as nature intended, in wonderful and enviable health.
Let’s help them remain free!!!
