On 17th May 2023, Sleepy Pig Farm Animal Sanctuary in Redding, Connecticut, US, found out about a three-day-old calf suffering from E.Coli infection and in critical condition. The breeder who had her was prepared to surrender her to the sanctuary as the chances of her survival were slim.
On an Instagram post from that day, the sanctuary wrote, “We were just notified from @road2refuge_sanctuary_ct of this baby calf that just came into her vet office, who is running out of time. A breeder brought her in because she is not doing well. She has E.Coli which has her having extremely bloody diarrhea and she needs a plasma transfusion at Tufts hospital ASAP for a chance of survival. When Meg called me today to see if we could take her I said “let me think”. The guy that brought this three day old baby in just allows his animals to free breed and his animals are always in horrific condition. That’s why I’m doing this post, to see if we can all come together to give her a chance of survival. The breeder said he will surrender her to @sleepypigfarm but I told him we just need some time. And time is NOT on this babies side.”
The sanctuary decided to rescue the calf, later named Pearl and took her to the hospital. Pearl received a plasma transfusion and treatment for severe bloody diarrhoea and an inflamed umbilical. Her condition remained uncertain, but she showed a will to live. Over time, Pearl showed signs of improvement and was able to take milk from a bottle. The doctors eventually allowed Pearl to go to Sleepy Pig Farm Animal Sanctuary, where she is continuing her recovery.
On another Instagram post from 30th May, the Sanctuary wrote: “We were a little nervous when we took this sweet girl under our care, she was fighting for her life in the hospital for over a week for E. coli which was destroying her GI tract and making her loose so much blood in her stool. Baby animals like Pearl can get extremely sick when they don’t nurse on their mom at birth and don’t receive the necessary antibodies from the colostrum from their mom. We don’t really know the entire story of what happened with Pearl’s mom and although we wish she could be here at the sanctuary, we remember that this fight against the animal ‘food’ system is ongoing and never fair. But, Pearl is safe and she is our focus… She is on the road to recovery.”
