On 8th July 2025, Iowa Farm Sanctuary in the US carried out an emergency rescue of two downed calves unable to stand on their own, and one of them has survived. A female calf named Lucy, black and white in colouring, had been born a week earlier and stood on her own the day she was born, but two days before the rescue she went down and did not get back up. A male calf named Tank, red and white, born the same week, had been unable to stand at all since birth. He later died at the sanctuary.
During the rescue, sanctuary staff placed both calves in a wheelchair cart to test whether they could bear weight, and found that both moved all four legs and strained against the cart as though trying to stand. They were driven straight to a large animal hospital for diagnostics.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary said on the day of the rescue, “We just pulled two calves out of a situation nobody else would touch, and we need our IFS family more than ever… We don’t know the cost yet. We know it will be thousands and thousands of dollars.”
After a full physical exam, bloodwork, and X-rays, the calves were cleared to go home within days, defying fears they would need weeks of hospital treatment. Lucy was found to have a luxating patella, while Tank had shoulder laxity; both were tested for a mineral deficiency thought to be contributing to their weakness.
Over the following weeks, Tank began trying to stand up from lying down, and Lucy managed to stand unassisted for five to ten seconds. However, by 28th July, Tank had died.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary said on 28th July, “Since rescuing Tank and Lucy, we haven’t stopped fighting for their recovery. We heartbreakingly lost Tank. That loss only made us more determined to find answers for Lucy… Every test, every scan, every piece of imaging says Lucy is a perfectly healthy calf.”
Lucy has continued physical therapy in the weeks since, progressing from what the sanctuary described as having no muscle tone to walking, and by 21st August, to sprinting through the sanctuary’s pasture. The sanctuary has been raising funds for her ongoing rehabilitation, veterinary visits, and daily care through donations and merchandise sales.
