Cow Hug Therapy! What is this craziness about? We have all heard of music therapy, massage therapy, meditation, acupuncture, and pet therapy. But what do they all have in common? They are all complimentary alternative healing modalities (CAM) that are not part of what we consider standard medical care. CAM is not a cure, but is an addition to traditional medicine to help with emotional issues, pain, and overall well-being. And as a nurse and healing touch practitioner I can truthfully say it works.
Cow hug therapy was a total new concept for me until I received a copy of Ellie Laks’ new book, Cow Hug Therapy: How the Animals at the Gentle Barn Taught Me about Life, Death, and Everything in Between – exerpt below.
The book showed up in the mail and I took it with me on vacation. I figured I would just pick it up here and there and give it a quick read. But the book totally got my attention. I was quite enthralled with it and had a bit of a hard time putting it down. There are so many dog-eared pages that I feel bad for anyone who borrows it.
The initial concept of the book is simple. Ellie along with her partner Jay Weiner began rescuing animals from, without going into detail, horrific conditions and in 1999 The Gentle Barn was born. Their mission is to provide a safe haven for abused animals. Once the animals are rescued, they do everything in their power to rehabilitate. Ellie, Jay, and many volunteers administer medication, use a form of CAM if necessary, give unconditional love and attention until the animals are physically and emotionally healed.
But what Ellie did not initially realize was what the animals would give back to her, especially the cows. She came to understand by interacting and watching the cows interact with each other how to better cope with some of her own personal issues. The impact was tremendous and she felt it had to be shared with others. And that is exactly what Ellie did. The Gentle Barn became a place where those who have suffered various types of trauma could go to participate in the animal-assisted therapy programs. Ellie shares some of these stories and their amazing outcomes as well.
You will be introduced to many animals, but will get to know a few of the cows intimately and discover their unique life lesson – sorry folks, no spoilers. Granted, there are some concepts which will seem a bit over the top, but as a nurse and healing touch practitioner I get it.
Cow Hug Therapy: How the Animals at the Gentle Barn Taught Me about Life, Death, and Everything in Between is one of the most interesting books I have read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to discover ways to cope with day-to-day stressors and possibly find some answers to life’s biggest questions in a very unique way.
Excerpt - Chapter 5: The St. Louis Six
As our band of girls trekked across the country, a news story about animals was capturing the nation’s attention; six cows who were facing imminent death in a St. Louis slaughterhouse had escaped. The lead cow had somehow managed to bust out a section of the corrugated steel fence containing the herd inside the slaughterhouse. He then, by pure force of will, pushed through two other barriers. Five other cows, sensing this was their only chance at freedom, followed quickly, before the staff realized what had happened.
As the cows ran for their lives, they crossed surrounding streets and parking lots, looking for open land, and people began uploading videos of the escapees as they dodged between cars. Soon, as the news caught wind of the story, helicopters were buzzing overhead, first local news and then national. Meanwhile police and other authorities tried to round up the cows into a corner where they could be captured. St. Louis residents took to the street, cheering on the lead cow with chants of “Chico! Chico! Chico!” Being in an industrial district, however, the cows had no way to escape, and one by one, all six were cornered and caught, loaded into trailers, and returned to the slaughterhouse.
Within an hour, people started calling the slaughterhouse, requesting that they let the cows live. Most callers put a gentle pressure on the owner to give the cows the chance at life they had fought so hard to win, but some people even threatened the owner if he didn’t. A small group of animal lovers set up a GoFundMe account and raised the money to buy and save the cows. The slaughterhouse owner agreed to release them to a sanctuary if one would agree to come and get them.
Four days went by, and no Midwest or even East Coast sanctuary came to get the cows. By the fourth day, the owner of the slaughterhouse was impatient and announced that he was going to process the cows in the morning. That’s when our phones started ringing. We are known for taking animals that no one else will take. Our donors, supporters, and followers all over the country started calling us after hearing the news, begging us to save the lives of these cows. “Can you do anything? Can you save them?” Even former St. Louis Blues hockey star David Backes and his wife Kelly called to see if we could help the cows.
As a rule, Jay and I don’t pay slaughterhouse owners for animals, as that is basically putting money into the same industry we want to abolish. We never want to financially support the meat industry. At the same time, the money was already raised and would go to waste if not spent on saving the cows. The owner was willing to release them. For both Jay and I, the thought of standing on principle when we knew these six cows would die was unendurable.
People around the world were hoping they would be saved. We knew that the cows’ survival would also be a great way to get out a strong message about why we must move more rapidly to share the planet more equitably with animals. This news story had already made millions aware of how cows, like humans, had the will to survive, the courage to try, and even unique features and personalities.
Since I was on the road trip to Tennessee, Jay boarded a red eye flight to Missouri, arriving in the morning in time to stop the slaughter. He transported the cows to the hospital, where they were treated for infections, parasites, and wounds. Afterward, Jay found a forty-acre foster home right across the street from the hospital that was willing to take the cows, which gave us the time to gather our thoughts about how we could best support our new cows and what steps to take next.
Ellie Laks is the founder of the Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with histories of trauma. She is an animal communicator, energy healer, TEDx speaker, educator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope.
Ellie lives at the Gentle Barn’s California location with her partner, Jay Weiner, who runs the organization with her. They have three children, hundreds of animals, and much to be grateful for. Ellie wants to spend the rest of her life improving the lives of animals and opening the hearts of humanity toward them in any way she can.
