Many people see cows as farm animals that provide us with milk and meat. They eat grass and live in a stable. A calf born near Houston experienced a natural disaster that it shouldn’t have survived. It found a surprising way to survive.
A couple in Texas were caught in Hurricane Harvey
In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought despair to many people in Louisiana, Belize, Nicaragua, Texas and many other places. Many streets were flooded and many people lost their homes. In this difficult period of time,
Tammy Canton and her husband had to come up with a contingency plan. The two were just two of thousands who had to restructure their lives. However, their situation was particularly complicated…
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The Cantos opened their house as a refuge
The Cantons offered their home for two more families and eight more dogs! Imagine the hustle and bustle during a natural disaster. It was getting pretty crowded in Fulshear, Texas. Then, without warning
Tammy’s husband saw something that would make the whole situation even harder and needed space. What exactly had he discovered? During a hurricane, you never know exactly what will happen next.
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Their place of refuge continued to be occupied
If you were in this situation, what would be the last thing you expect? Well, one of the family’s cows gave birth to a calf in a most unexpected moment. “My husband saw the calf in the water and it has no milk
drank more from his mother,” Tammy explained. Normally, a calf drinks milk as soon as it’s born. If that doesn’t happen, it can be particularly dangerous. There was something else going on.
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A weak calf
“The water was extremely cold,” Tammy added. “And right after the birth, it wasn’t an ideal situation.” Have you ever seen a street dog sitting in the rain – this looked similar, only a lot worse.
Tammy also noticed that the calf looked particularly weak and was shaking in the rain. What would the couple do about it? One thing was for sure, they wouldn’t stand around while the animal froze in the cold.
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To act quickly
Baby animals cannot survive long on their own, not only a farmer knows this. The weather was bad and the circumstances particularly precarious, the calf would die quickly without support. Time was of the utmost importance.
Tammy was aware of the whole thing and she and her husband needed to do something. The house was already filled with people and dogs, but now they had to perform a feat for the calf.
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Help on the way
Tammy and her husband went out into the water to save the young calf! We don’t know how many people would have done the same. When Tammy got to the house with the calf, they saw just how bad his condition really was.
The animal was very weak and could hardly stand while trembling all over. “It almost looked like we were too late,” Tammy said, looking worried. What obstacles would the animal be able to overcome?
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Her name was Harveigh
Tammy and the family decided at least to give the animal a name. They called it Harveigh! Because it was so young, it had not yet developed an immune system. Without the mother’s help, the chances of the animal were slim.
They even called a vet who advised they definitely keep Harveigh indoors while she tries to gain strength. So Harveigh needed space in the house, and the linen closet was the best place to do it.
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Road to recovery
The first hours were critical. But once they were over, the time flew by quickly. Weeks passed and Harveigh seemed to have a real future. She often slept in the dog bed and was bottle fed milk.
Harveigh grew stronger as time went on and Tammy hoped she could live with the other animals soon. Surprisingly, Harveigh befriended other animals while they were recovering…
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Dog love
Contrary to what one might think, pit pulls are simply filled with happiness and love. One evening, the family’s pit bull, Sealy, started licking all over Harveigh’s head, which she didn’t seem too pleased about.
“All dogs always seem to love them straight out,” Tammy said. This was just the beginning of something very special and unexpected. What could happen to Harveigh and the rest of the family?
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A new friendship
The beginning of a beautiful friendship began to grow right before her eyes. It was like something out of a wonderful children’s book. Harveigh was beginning to recover from the past and she was loving her new surroundings.
Harveigh was even beginning to get used to the behavior of the family dogs. She practically became one of the dogs and played with them every day. Who could have seen this coming? The family certainly didn’t expect it.
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Friendship of the animal world
The good news is that the feeling was mutual! It was like something out of a Disney movie, their dynamic was really unique. Can you imagine the friendship between Kalb and Pitbull at all?
“Sealy loves to play with, nurture and protect Harveigh. You two have a very special bond,” Tammy wrote on her Facebook profile. Tammy really enjoyed every second of the experience.
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Special Customization
As one can imagine, the family home was not equipped for the life of a small cow. The calf that got along so well with the pit bulls eventually grew to over 200 pounds. She soon outgrew the house and Tammy had to
consider something. Harveigh got so big she couldn’t fit in the washroom! As a result, she needed a new place to sleep. What would Tammy and her husband think of to make Harveigh comfortable?
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Calf problems
If a calf lives indoors from the start, then only one thing can actually happen: it gets used to the luxury and actually doesn’t want to live outside anymore. Of course, that also happened to little Harveigh.
After a while she would stop looking outside at the other cows. If Tammy and her husband took her to the barn, she would walk straight back to the house. So what would they do?
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Welcome to the cow apartment
Tammy and her husband did what any loving cow parent would have done. They thought of something that would be comfortable for both Harveigh without intruding too much on her household chores. They called the result the “cow apartment”.
They used a garden shed to build a home for Harveigh of their own. She had a heater and her own place to sleep. It was a middle ground for the calf – she didn’t have to live in the barn, but she wasn’t allowed to sleep in the house anymore either.
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Dislike the new place
Though Tammy Harveigh donated her own place, that just didn’t seem like enough. The first few nights in the cow apartment didn’t go so well and the next morning they found Harveigh lying on the doorstep.
Why didn’t she want to stay in her apartment? Harveigh really tried his best to be in the apartment as little time as possible. She much preferred being with the dogs and family. The lonely life just wasn’t for her.
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Things changed
As time went by, Harveigh got bigger, as cows do. With this new size, it was sometimes even dangerous for her smaller friends. Harveigh was so used to playing with other animals that
that it was unusual to be able to do this less now. Soon someone always had to see when the dog and cow interacted. Their size just got in the way of the game. Nobody wanted a dog to get hurt.
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Become a cow
Anyone who’s read the story so far already knows that Harveigh didn’t live a normal life and grew up differently than the average cow. However, Tammy had to do everything to get Harveigh used to a regular cow life.
She initiated several steps to start the process. She took Harveigh on visits to the other cows, which the young cow didn’t always enjoy. It almost looked as if the attempts would be in vain…
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The transition
“We slowly introduced her,” Tammy explained. “It’s so hard to motivate her, but if you’re going to teach her how to be a decent cow, you have to look closely at the other cows,” she added.
It was almost as if she had to get used to the outdoors with a dog that had always lived indoors. It wasn’t easy for either Cow or Tammy. It took Harveigh a long time to grasp the concept of what it means to be a cow.
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A clever cow
Perhaps you too have a pet and know how quickly they find a way around the rules. Harveigh even managed to open the back door of the house during this time to get inside all by himself.
Finally it happened! She took a closer look at the cows and felt more comfortable now, but there were still rules for Harveigh. “She’s not allowed to walk around the house anymore. Small visits are fine if she wants to see the dogs,” Tammy explained.
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Happy Harveigh
Yes, Harveigh ended up having to ditch almost all of her dog habits and settle into a cow life. However, Tammy can’t help it today and sometimes pays more attention to her and brings her a dog treat.
“It fills my heart with joy that I’ve spent so much time with her. She comes over here sometimes and puts her head on my lap when I’m sitting in the grass,” explained Tammy. This was truly a wonderful experience!