WAN Talks To Mike Stura About The Harrowing Rescue Of A Brave Young Calf Who Escaped A Slaughterhouse In Brooklyn, NY

Mike Stura, founder of Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue is at it again, saving the lives of innocent cows and other farm animals who were brave enough to break free and escape slaughter.

“That is what I am here to do,” Stura told WAN, downplaying the heroic efforts and lengths he goes to each time he rescues and rehomes an ‘individual’ animal at his more than 232-acre sanctuary for farm animals in Wantage, New Jersey. This time, despite a stressful day and night, Stura miraculously saved a four-month-old calf who escaped from a slaughterhouse transport truck near Saba Live Poultry in Brooklyn, New York.

“I was starting to lose my faith, but he is here, and he is beautiful,” Stura shared with WAN yesterday. Stura had to drive three hours to Pennsylvania to rescue the calf, who was sent back to the breeding farm where he came from after escaping slaughter in New York. The calf, safe and secure, ran towards Stura’s large trailer that was attached to his truck and was finally safe.

“This has been a really tough few days,” Stura told WAN, explaining that usually after an animal escapes slaughter, the slaughterhouse will claim that they returned the animal back to the farm where he or she came from, which is typically fabricated in order to prevent them from giving up the animal. This time, it was true, and Stura was able to make it to the farm just in time to rescue the calf.

“This has been such a game of waiting,” continued Stura, who immediately started driving to Pennsylvania to save the calf once he learned about the situation. “I thought to myself, let me get ahead of this so when they call, I am not three hours away. Three hours during which they could change their minds and I didn’t want that.”

Stura explained that after numerous attempts, he was able to convince the ‘owner’ of the calf and the person at the slaughterhouse to release the animal to him. He then talked to the ‘owner’ of the calf at 10:00am but did not hear from him again until 11:00am the next day. Determined to save the calf, Stura sat in his truck for 21 hours waiting until he was able to secure the baby.

As if that were not harrowing enough, Stura was mourning the loss of one of his favorite farm animals, a little donkey named Hazel, that passed away yesterday.

“Everything happens at once,” said Stura, who shared with WAN that he decided to name the young calf Stewie.

“This was a tough one, but worth it,” said an exhausted Stura while sitting in his truck as he was counting down the last 52 minutes before he and Stewie reached the sanctuary. Earlier this month, Stura also saved the lives of seven sheep who were spared from slaughter.

“I love all of them and I really hate what humans do to these animals,” noted Stura. “It is so wrong!”

Thankfully, Stura remains determined to right some of those wrongs by saving one individual farm animal at a time.

Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue never hesitates to help animals in need, however, the nonprofit needs assistance by way of financial donations to contribute to ongoing animal care, repairing broken machines and buying building materials, such as fencing for the 6.4 acres Stura recently purchased so that the animals have more room to graze.

Donations to help Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue operate and care for the hundreds of animals that call the farm sanctuary home, can be made HERE!

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg