Jill Harness
Cow Gets Double Prosthetic Legs
by Jill Harness - December 15, 2009 - 2:10 PM

Cow Prosthetics

When Nancy Dickenson and her stepdaughter found an 11-month-old calf suffering from severe frostbite on their neighbor’s property, they knew they had to do something to help. When they realized the Black Angus heifer had lost the use of its back legs, they bought the cow from their neighbor and then brought it to Colorado State University. Staff and students worked together to amputate the calf’s crippled legs and provide her with two prosthetic legs. This is the first time a cow has been fitted with two prosthetics.

Meadow, as she is now called, is now a pet of the family — who saved her twice now, once from her injuries and once from the slaughter she would have otherwise been subjected to.

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Comments (12)

  1. Now we can fatten her up and eat her. thanks for prolonging her life so we can enjoy many hamburgers in the future.

    posted by Crow88 on 12-15-2009 at 2:20 pm

  2. Yeah… um… veal?

    Seems like kind of a pointless save. Cow probably went through more pain having the legs amputated than it would have just being shot.

    posted by Troy H. on 12-15-2009 at 2:23 pm

  3. they said it won’t be slaughtered.

    posted by KayTee on 12-15-2009 at 3:10 pm

  4. Aw that cow is so cute. You people are sick to talk about it that way. If this was a hamburger-related entry then that’s fine but its not so don’t bother commenting if you can’t say anything nice.

    posted by Abby on 12-15-2009 at 6:08 pm

  5. Hm. Normally I am a sucker for this kind of saving an animal story. But this one is just not doing it for me… It’s not like the cow was an endangered animal (like the sea turtle that got prosthetic flippers), or a house pet (like the kitten that had its front paws amputated). If the cow was part of a beef operation I don’t really understand why they didn’t slaughter it when it got injured. I’m not saying that it doesn’t deserve a chance to live, I just don’t see the point of spending all that time trying to save an animal that would have gone to slaughter eventually. At least the veterinary students got some good practice?

    posted by Christina on 12-15-2009 at 8:53 pm

  6. The other thing that’s puzzled me about this story since I first saw it awhile ago- that does not look like an 11 month old calf… I realize Angus cattle aren’t the biggest on the face of the earth, but that one looks younger than 11 mo’s… (ok, not a big deal…just a bit ummm, what’s the deal?) Also- an 11 month old ‘calf’ shouldn’t be so prone to frostbite… the whole story is odd…

    posted by ann on 12-16-2009 at 4:14 am

  7. I saw a pig with a wooden leg once. I asked the farmer why he had it and was told that the pig had saved the farmer’s life. I then asked why the pig’s leg was missing. He said that when you get a pig like that, you hate to eat him all at one time.

    posted by bobalong on 12-16-2009 at 7:23 am

  8. Hahaha – nice old joke, Bob. I needed a laugh this morning. Thanks!

    posted by Sandy Wood on 12-16-2009 at 8:33 am

  9. I gotta say i am split on this one. I am normally all for saving animals at any cost. Buy if this cow was on a beef-type farm…it might seem pointless to prolong its inevitable trip to the sloughter. However I do agree that it WAS good practice for the vet students to do the double amputee bit. i guess to each their own…

    posted by megan on 12-16-2009 at 8:58 am

  10. I’m always a little ticked off when I see stuff like this. We’re going to give prosthetic legs to a cow that would’ve otherwise been slaughtered anyway, but not to a legless homeless guy on the streets?

    And yes, that cow is adorable…just like every other cow we eat. And I presume she’s just as delicious.

    posted by Jim on 12-16-2009 at 10:39 am

  11. It’s nice to see that there are other people out there who care about more than what’s behind the tips of their noses. I just hope the cow is comfortable on those things.

    posted by Mandy on 12-16-2009 at 4:15 pm

  12. wow way to moderate the posts…it’s like I’m in Communist Russia.

    posted by Adam on 12-18-2009 at 6:24 am

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