About the Foundation
The primary activity of The Cows Foundation is to promote the humane care of cows by providing knowledge and practical support for their compassionate care according to the following principles.
1. Cows are allowed to live out their full span of life.
2. Cows are nurtured, respected and treated with kindness.
3. Young calves are allowed to stay with their mothers and nurse from them for at least 4-6 months.
4. Cows enjoy organic feed and are allowed to graze freely on pasture.
The Foundation aims to support as many cows as possible to live under these principles of humane care. At this time when financial profit is seen as the top priority in most endeavors, it is not financially viable for farmers to keep their cows once they have stopped producing milk. It is also seen as more cost effective to separate the calf from its mother immediately after it is born and feed the calf a milk supplement. In order to create higher milk yields and greater income, large factory farms increasingly have been developed where cows can no longer graze on grass but are confined in crowded quarters indoors, living on abrasive concrete floors with their feed brought to them. This unnatural, restricted life produces pain and suffering.
The Goal of the Cows Foundation is to eliminate the harmful impact of this inhumane and unnatural treatment.
The Cows Foundation is raising funds and providing knowledge to help farmers, agricultural projects and animal sanctuaries care for cows in a compassionate, thoughtful and humane way.
These holistic principles were practiced in many ancient cultures which depended on sustainable animal husbandry generation after generation. They fully recognized the immense gifts that the cow gives to humankind. They understood the fundamental unity that underlies all life – plant, animal and human – and knew that the care and nurturing of cows is essential for maintaining health, balance, and well-being in human society.
It is the need of our time to completely re-enliven these humane and compassionate principles for the care and well-being of cows and of society.
The Cows Foundation has been founded to awaken this knowledge of the holistic care of cows by promoting and upholding the practices of:
- Allowing cows to live out their full span of life
- Nurturing, respecting and treating them with kindness and compassion
- Keeping calves with their mothers for at least 4-6 months
- Grazing them on organic pastures as nature intended
Plans and Programs
1. Raise funds to directly support the lives of cows.
This will be done through utilizing every avenue of communication available: making presentations to individuals and groups, using the internet and social media, writing articles.
2. Create a network of volunteers who wish to promote and support the practice of sustainable cow care.
3. Offer grants to farms and sanctuaries to help support individual cows.
The Foundation will accept grant proposals from farms and sanctuaries wishing to implement the principles of The Cows Foundation.
4. Provide Educational materials
Educational materials will be created to support farmers in applying this new/ancient paradigm of sustainable cow care. Knowledge and expertise will be provided to help each farm and sanctuary to become more self-sufficient through applying the research on sustainable cow care.
5. Creating Sanctuaries
In addition to helping support existing sanctuaries, new sanctuaries will be created as needed to fulfill the goal of allowing cows to live out their full span of life with dignity and respect.
Land and funds will be gratefully received by the foundation for this purpose.
Meet the Trustees/ Directors
Katherine Doak, Trustee and President
Kelly Mae Heroux, Executive Director
Terry Nevas, Trustee
Dr Jagdish Vaidya, Trustee
Wayne Leroy, Director of Cow Care
Debby Henning, Creative Director
Ana Maria Castineria, Secretary
Dr. A.Thimmaiah, Trustee