Charley the cow saved from slaughter after community comes together to help
By Madilyn Destefano
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Florida (WESH) — Meet Charley the cow, a young 4-H steer who is highly trained, very social and well-groomed for competitions.
4-H, in cow-competition terms, is a development program for young cows focused on raising, judging, and showing cattle for animal science purposes. In other words, it’s a livestock judging contest.
At a recent weigh-in, Charley found out he was too skinny to continue with 4-H.
In the livestock world, that usually means the slaughterhouse.
Sending him to a sanctuary would allow him to live out the rest of his days “peacefully on an educational farm teaching kids about sustainable farm living,” a GoFundMe for Charley said.
A GoFundMe was organized to raise the $5,500 needed to send Charley to Bell Family Farm in Polk City.
The campaign is still about $2,000 short of its goal, but the organizer has paid personally so Charley wouldn’t get slaughtered while the community was still working to raise the remainder of the money needed.
Bell Family Farm has agreed to take Charley in, where he will become a certified cow cuddler and farm ambassador.
Charley was delivered for free from Florida Farm School in Dade City to Bell Family Farm, with several parts of the community stepping in to help.
The farm, which sustained damage from Hurricane Milton and has since faced financial difficulties, hopes Charley and their new cow-cuddling business will help sustain operations.
“Charley’s story is remarkable,” said the Bell family. “He managed to cross paths with all the right humans in our incredible community who would recognize his unique worth.”
The GoFundMe campaign remains active, and Bell Family Farm continues to seek support to ensure Charley’s care and the farm’s future.
All in all, Charley is safe, but the cost still needs to be covered.
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