Soul Searching

Yesterday was one of those days where I wish that I had a video camera on me because I witnessed something awesome.

It's no mystery that I love cows. I have confessed my love for them on several occasions on this blog and I will stand tall and proud of my declaration of adoration for this animal. Yesterday, Chris and I went for a bike ride on the Confederation Trail towards York, PEI when my supernose detected raspberries (it was really hot so being able to smell sweet raspberries was no major feat). We hopped off our bikes and started picking and eating the yummy fresh berries on the side of the trail. After a few minutes of munching, we came across a cow sitting all alone in the shade on the other side of the fence beside the trail. We proceeded to talk to the cow but it didn't seem all that interested in us. It just laid there on its side, staring at us. Another minute or two passed and then the cow grudgingly got to its feet. This was when we realized that the poor thing was injured. Cow 206 (the number on the tag on its ear) had an injured front leg and could put barely any weight on it.

When we realized that 206 was injured, we decided it would be a good idea to go find the owner and let him know that he had a hurt animal. Plus the poor thing was all alone on the opposite end of the property, so it was probably pretty lonely too! We walked back to our bikes and started to ride away when we heard a low mooing. Across the field was the rest of the herd and there was a smaller cow mooing in the direction of 206. We stopped and stood there, listening to the mooing and watching the small cow separate itself from the herd. It mooed and mooed for about 2-3 minutes then started to quickly walk towards 206. I said to Chris, "I want to see how this plays out!" and we jumped off our bikes and walked quietly back over to poor 206 who was waiting patiently in the shade. 

A few weeks ago, I was horrified by a friend who told me that he thought that cows had no souls. WHAT? No souls? Really? He said that if you look into the eyes of a cow, there is nothing. They are blank in there. Now I would blame any kind of blankness to having a small IQ, but saying that a creature has no soul is just not cool.

Little cow mooed and mooed as it walked up to 206, and the moment they were close enough to touch, they started rubbing up against one another affectionately, sniffing each other over and just making the world seem like a much better place :) The sweetness and tenderness was heart warming. It was easy to see that this must have been a mother/child relationship and it really put my heart in my throat to witness.

On the ride back towards Charlottetown, we passed 206 again to see that 206 and baby cow were laying in the shade together, waiting to be rescued by the farmer.

I dare someone to see something like this and say that these creatures have no soul. Impossible.