Onward to 34 Years of Cow Protection

A new year of cow protection has begun, thanks to your support. This will be the 34th year ISCOWP is protecting cows and spreading the message of diet change. ISCOWP’s longevity has been possible due to your generosity because ISCOWP is a nonprofit, donor-based organization. Together, let us make this year of 2024 more potent than ever with the message of cow protection and diet change!

Cow Petting Time

On December 26, Sahaana Rangaraj and her parents came to visit her adopted cow, Vaishnavi. In 2020, her parents adopted Kalyan Tamal for her; this year, they adopted Vaishnavi. Radhika came to say hello at the gate, and then Kalyan came to say hello. Vaishnavi’s companion, Surabhi, was very interested in Sahaana. Sahaana also got to pet Nara, who lives in the same paddock as Surabhi and Vaishnavi.

Balaji’s friend Michael came for a farm visit and a fun time with the cows and oxen over winter break. A Fun time was had by all. Both boys are also on the JV football team at school. Michael and the cows had a great rapport, and he thought he would like to come again and do some volunteer work.

If you want to visit the cows, please check out our visiting policy at this link. At the same link is a contact form for all inquiries, including volunteering your time for the cows.  We will be happy to hear from you!

Cow Care

Nara damaged his back, hip, and leg almost 3 years ago. Treatments like acupuncture help him manage. To facilitate his treatments, it is best to keep him as stable as possible when treated. Lakshmi explains the treatment arrangement developed for him and other cows like him.

To safely facilitate his treatments, it is best to keep him as stable as possible when treated. In this video reel, Lakshmi explains the treatment arrangement developed for him and other cows like him.

Behind the Scenes at the Sanctuary

Much labor goes into maintaining and building the sanctuary’s infrastructure and caring for the cows. Every day or every other day, we need to feed out hay during the winter. The video reel below shows Balaji putting chains through the hay ring and the tractor to move it to the pasture. The hay rings get a vigorous beating from the cows and often need repair. We are currently considering purchasing a more robust and differently designed hay ring. Lakshmi drives the tractor, taking the hay ring to the pasture. There, Balaji unchains the hay ring. Then, Lakshmi leaves the hay ring in the pasture and spears a hay bale from the barn. She drops the hay bale in the ring, and she and Balaji cut the mesh around the hay so the cows can access the hay. This video now has 77,958 views on our ISCOWP Facebook page.

The sewer for the tiny houses is between them. The earth over it has been unlevel. We rented a mini excavator over the holiday season as it was a very cheap rate, and we needed it to do a few jobs around the sanctuary. One of the jobs was to level the earth between the tiny houses with sand that we had delivered. Now, it is more level, and after some more work leveling, we can maintain it more easily by planting grass and then mowing it regularly. Staff member Lakshmi drove the mini excavator and, although not experienced, did a good job. Volunteer Acyutananda Dasa (Adam Zabowski) and staff members Balaji and Bhima shoveled the sand into the low areas. Later Balaji chain dragged the area to smooth it out and make it more level.