Tiniest Cow Rescued From Auction Is So Loved Now

"Blitzen was so small that he could fit in a bowl. I had never seen a calf this size."

Blitzen was just 37 pounds when the perfect person showed up at a cattle auction and decided to rescue him.

The baby cow was weak and just days old. And the people who were at the stockyard, auctioning off him and other unwanted animals, were laughing at him because he was so tiny.

Farm Sanctuary

"They called him trash and joked about ... no one bidding on him," Susie Coston, national shelter director for Farm Sanctuary, wrote. She was already rescuing two other very sick calves that day, who had come in with scores of others from massive dairy farms in Pennsylvania and New York. The calves who show up at the stockyard are often just a day or two old.

Farm Sanctuary

"Calves often arrive at the stockyard too weak to stand, dehydrated and without having received vital colostrum from their mothers," Coston explained. "This leaves them vulnerable to infection and disease, which quickly sets in." It seemed like the scrawny calf hardly stood a chance.

Farm Sanctuary

But the auctioneer looked at Coston and said, "Do you want him too?"

Farm Sanctuary

"Of course, I said yes," Coston recalled.

Farm Sanctuary

Blitzen - along with the two other calves, Lawrence and Alexander - was rushed to Nemo Farm Animal Hospital at Cornell University. Lawrence, especially, was at death's door.

Farm Sanctuary

At the hospital, Blitzen watched over the other calves as veterinarians tried to save them.

Farm Sanctuary

This was back in December 2010. And all three dying calves survived.

Farm Sanctuary

Blitzen was the healthiest of the three, but he still had pneumonia and needed a blood transfusion.

Farm Sanctuary

But soon the three calves were running and playing together.

Farm Sanctuary

They were brought to Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York, where they could grow up together.

Farm Sanctuary

Blitzen especially bonded with Lawrence. The two animals, who now weigh a couple thousand pounds , continue to be best friends.

Farm Sanctuary

After five long and happy years at the sanctuary, Alexander passed away from complications stemming from his rough start in life.

But Blitzen and Lawrence are still going strong.

Farm Sanctuary

And now Farm Sanctuary still loves to celebrate Blitzen's birthday, just a few days before Christmas, which was very nearly the day he and his friends died.

Farm Sanctuary

But that stockyard is a distant memory now.

Farm Sanctuary

To help Farm Sanctuary rescue animals like Blitzen, you can make a donation here.

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