Amazing Dog
Teresa Today’s story took place one day in May 2011 in the Italian region of Castiglione in Sicily. A truck from a nearby ranch arrived at the gates of the local slaughterhouse when one of the cows that it transported (which has gone down in history as “The cow Teresa”) managed to get away from its jailers and fled running through the mountains.
Immediately a rally was organized to capture her, in which the forces of public order collaborated, but Teresa seemed to be very clear about the future that awaited her and she managed to steer clear of all the controls she found on her way.
As the hours passed the cow advanced unstoppable and hour after hour as it managed to travel almost twenty kilometers running, until it reached the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the town of Santa Teresa di Riva. Hence the name with which she was baptized.
Teresa, seeing herself surrounded, did not think twice and after jumping into the water, she went to swim out to sea fleeing from her persecutors:
But little joy lasted for poor Teresa as the Italian coast guard was warned and her patrol boats managed to locate and capture her. She refused to give up so they had to tow her back to the beach tied with a rope.
Arriving at the beach, as she had done the last hours, Teresa fought with all her strength to avoid the inevitable.
When the fate of Teresa seemed to be over, journalists from the local newspaper TempoStretto, who had been following the search operation, launched the news on social networks through a Facebook page and quickly the animal advocates appealed to the added thousands of people asking for the salvation of Teresa.
It has cost me a lot to find reliable sources to know that it was finally Teresa but after much searching I found on an Italian page the photo of Teresa on the farm that adopted her and in which she will spend the rest of her life with other animals.
Although Teresa managed to save her life with her long struggle, the rest of the animals that accompanied her did not suffer the same fate. Nor are the millions of animals that are slaughtered every day after having lived their short lives in the most miserable and cruel conditions.
These beings we both underestimate are more aware of their sad reality than we want to believe. Teresa’s example is the best proof of that.
Animals are very smart. I don’t believe we’ll ever know what they understand.
This is a very moving story! We are wrong to think that animals have no feelings and thoughts, so do the trees and the leaves!
Ever see the story of the cows that were saved from slaughter seeing grass for the first time? They are smarter than you think. We had an old milk cow, she would let the horses out, and stay in the paddock herself.