From a letter to Farm Sanctuary
from Belle Hill Dairy Farm of Poland, NY

December, 2000

As the year 2000 comes to a close, I wanted to let you know how much my husband and I appreciate the work you are doing on behalf of downed cows. Being owner and operator of a family dairy farm in upstate New York for 22 years, we have watched with anguish as our industry has changed from family to commercial to "factory" with little regards for the beautiful bovine creature that once dotted our country side.

We, like most family dairies, have tripled in cow numbers over the past few years, trying desperately to make up for the falling milk prices. And even at 200 cows, it is a "non-profit" business. Because of this stressful climate, cows are not staying in the milking string more than two years, with some large dairies turning over as much as 50% a year.

It used to be common for a farmer to pamper one of his "girls" that might be down and work with her until she could stand. Now with the cost of a vet ($100 just to get him out to your farm), loss of milk, and taking up precious space, it is cheaper for the farmer to have her removed...and as we all know, being dragged alive onto a truck is not humane. Let me relate a true incident. I received a phone call from a fellow farmer neighbor who had called the local dog food rendering service to pick up a down, but not dead, cow. When the trucker arrived and started to hook his chains around the cow, they told him to stop and shoot the cow first. His reply was that the laws have changed and they were required to take the animal alive. Thank heavens, the farmer questioned this statement and after a bit of debating, asked the trucker to leave without the cow. The neighbor called me to ask if I had heard of such a law. Meanwhile, a part-time employee over heard the phone discussion and said another farmer was told the same thing, and the cow was dragged away alive. I called another rendering service to ask if there were any new laws dealing with down cows. They said no, but maybe these cows were not going for dog food. I was shocked and sick to think how low the industry had sunk.