Balaram and his friend Krishna were rescued from a petting zoo when the two boys were about to be shipped to the slaughterhouse because they had become too big for the zoo. That was 12 years ago when they were only three months old.
Krishna unexpectedly passed away on January 22, 2015. Balaram had become saddened by his passing. They were very close and Balaram, unlike Krishna, was a bit of a loner. So, Krishna was his closest friend. When Balaram moved to Florida in the fall of 2015 it seemed his spirits picked up and he had a more positive mood. But by then he had developed arthritis in his hind legs. With his disability, Balaram’s life was easier getting around on the flat Florida land then trying to maneuver the hills of his previous home in West Virginia. He managed to keep up with the herd.
On August 18, 2016 we wrote to his adopters:
We found Balaram down yesterday. We tried to get him up but it seemed that his front legs could not support him. His arthritis was always in his back legs. After about four hours of trying to get him up, we moved him to the barn where we could take better care of him. This afternoon he took a turn for the worse. He had been struggling to get up and managed to get his back legs up but his front legs would not support him. He became frustrated. We got him in a better position but he has become weak quickly. We have a tape playing Srila Prabhupada chanting japa 24/7, and we gave him holy waters and Vrndavan dust. We placed a Harinama charter on him. Today is Balaram’s appearance day and a most auspicious time to leave if it is Lord Krsna’s mercy. Please pray for his protection.
On August 20, 2016:
Balaram passed away quietly last night listening to Srila Prabhupada chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. We will bury him today on our farm. He will be greatly missed by all of us due to his beautiful presence and noble persona.
In his youth he was very proud of his pointed horns and used them to get what he wanted. As he aged he became more kindhearted towards the other cows. He was very patient and appeared to be deeply thinking in his last year of life. During his entire life he was never frivolous. His persona was very noble, handsome and distant.
Thank you so much for your prayers for him. His departure was quite swift which alleviated his suffering. We will all miss Balaram greatly. Please pray for his journey to greener pastures.
On our YouTube channel youtube.com/c/ISCOWP108 we have a playlist of videos about Balaram starting from the oldest taken in 2012 to this spring. Below is one video of Balaram in 2014.
ISCOWP Opens Doors
We have now opened our doors to guests by appointment only (352.792.6777 or [email protected]). Eventually we will have an official opening. Balabhadra (William E. Dove president of ISCOWP) has healed from his heart surgery and is now in the process of building up his strength. We will also be giving a two day seminar at the Save the Cow Kirtan Mela Festival at New Talavan Community in Mississippi to be held September 30 through October 2. If you go to the festival you will also see an ISCOWP cow booth with t-shirts and other goodies. See you soon.
Daiva das took some spontaneous videos while visiting which can be seen on Facebook:
From the Save the Cow Kirtan Mela Festival at New Talavan Facebook page.
August 13· Carriere, MS.
We have yet another great seminar given by the International Society for Cow Protection.
A Global Minister for Cow Protection and Agriculture for fifteen years, Balabhadra co-founded and is currently the president of the International Society for Cow Protection (ISCOWP) established since 1990. Through personal experience on the ISCOWP farm as well as experiencing cow protection in many places worldwide, Balabhadra shares his realizations in a visual seminar “Holistic Cow Protection”
More information will be on WWW.SAVETHECOWKIRTAN.ORG soon.