It’s a Christmas Miracle! Ricardo the Rogue Steer Finds a Home at a Real Sanctuary After Train-Disrupting Escapade
After captivating East Coast commuters with his daring trot down New Jersey Transit train tracks, this rogue steer is getting his own Christmas miracle.
Officials reportedly believe that the steer escaped from a local slaughterhouse before ending up along the train tracks near Newark Penn Station—the same one where dozens of PETA’s “I’m Me, Not Meat” ads are placed for the holiday season.
After being safely captured, the steer was taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary & Rescue in Sussex County, New Jersey, and named Ricardo. Now, he’s enjoying the greatest gift of all: a safe home where he can roam free, graze, and socialize with other animals.
Ricardo’s heartwarming tale is a celebratory one indeed, but the countless animals still suffering on farms and in slaughterhouses aren’t so lucky. Each year, the meat and dairy industries exploit and kill more than 29 million cows in the U.S. alone. In the meat industry, workers subject many young cows to agonizing mutilations, such as castration, branding, and dehorning—often without any pain relief. At slaughterhouses, workers hang them upside down and slit their throats—sometimes while they’re still conscious.
Cows Want to Live
Cows have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to escape from slaughterhouses—a testament to their extreme intelligence, knack for solving problems, and, most importantly, desire to live. Just earlier this year, a 4-month-old calf ran loose through the streets of Brooklyn after breaking free from a slaughterhouse.
All Our Fellow Animals Deserve the Same Happy Ending as Ricardo
If Ricardo’s inspiring escapade teaches us anything, it’s that cows desire the same things we do: respect, compassion, and the freedom to do as they please. No one wants to spend their lives on crowded, filthy farms or to die in a slaughterhouse.
You can save nearly 200 animals per year by going vegan. Make the compassionate switch today:
