Little Susi
Too weak for the long journey in the three-storey cattle truck
Susi was only five weeks old and one of 214 calves that were to be exported to the Netherlands in a three-storey cattle truck. The veterinary office did not allow the transport of the small, weak calf; she did not have a closed coat and had some scratches on her legs. Maybe Susi was just supposed to be lucky?
Susi was intended for the dairy industry
As a Schwarzbunte, Susi should give a lot of milk, because Schwarzbunte cows are the epitome of good dairy cows. The North German breed has now been largely eclipsed by the "Holstein-Friesian" breed bred in the USA. The Holstein-Friesian appears very slim, is taller and not very muscular. The average milk yield is between 10,000 and 12,000 litres per year. In the best case, the dairy farmer receives 16,000 litres of milk per year from a very good cow. These high-yielding cows live an average of 4 years and have two calves in their short lives.
Pumped full of high-energy food
Due to the special feeding, the liver is very overloaded and grows strongly, so that the body of the animals becomes weaker and weaker. A longer life than 4 to 5 years is usually not possible. Little Susi would never have become a good dairy cow because she was already "sorted out" as a calf. Only strong and healthy animals are bred.
Little Susi's fate would probably have been to be transported to a fattening farm in the Netherlands. There, she would have lived for about 20 months with other cattle in 30m2 boxes. At some point, the "redemptive" journey to the slaughterhouse would have come to put an end to it all...
"If slaughterhouses had walls of glass, everyone would be vegetarian". - Paul McCartney.
The animals live so closely packed in the box that if one animal wants to move, at least one other has to move as well. If the cattle are "lucky", they are slaughtered in their own country. Thousands are taken to Arab countries. Many of the animals are driven in a transporter to Spain and then shipped. Their journey across the seas often goes to Turkey, Syria or Lebanon.
Since little Susi has been living at Gut Aiderbichl, she follows Christian, the manager of the Moosfeldhof, everywhere. They visit the goats, the ponies and the sheep together. Susi loves to rub her nose in the snow. So that she wouldn't get cold in winter, Christian even had her knitted a jacket so that Susi's small, delicate body wouldn't freeze. It will probably be a friendship for life: Susi with four legs and Christian with two and delicate hands to give Susi security.
Christian is probably a gifted cattle rescuer. He was also the one who fetched the now world-famous Bandit, the young bull from tethering, and brought him to Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf. Bandit has never forgotten who untied him. Animals remember faces and the voices of people.
"Many little people doing many things in many places can change the face of the earth and all life for the better". - (Jane Goddall, English behavioural scientist).
On behalf of Susi and all the animals who have found a home on the farms of Gut Aiderbichl, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the many Aiderbichl supporters for doing many things in many places and thus changing the face of the earth and all life for the better.
