Struggling Goshala Support
Cow sanctuary/Goshala (San Martin CA)
Goshala BJ Animal care stemmed its roots in the onset of Global Pandemic in the year 2020 to help provide crucial supply of food, housing and Vet care for the helpless & voiceless animals. With lock downs everywhere animal sanctuaries like Goshala San Martin CA that were solely dependent on walk-in donations/visitors were greatly impacted with their plunged donations and food supply chains halted. Hunger hurts humans and animals alike except animals can’t voice it so we became their voice.
Goshala San Martin CA.
11355 Monterey Highway
San Martin CA- 95046.
More cow sanctuaries(goshalas)/ Rescue and Rehabilitation of Cattle
In future, we will be extending our support for more sanctuaries and shelters/goshalas in desperate needs with focus on rescue and rehabilitation of stray cattle into safe sanctuaries locally and beyond.
Our Journey - Fight with Hunger
Our first fundraiser began on Giving Tuesday of 2020 and we have not stopped a bit (big shout out to donors for coming together during trying times to show their love and support).
Fight with Diseases
Besides hunger, we were fighting medical situations. Baby calf ‘Devaki’ was born on January 30th, 2021 in the coldest of nights and needed immediate attention and care to survive. To learn more, please read the following information regarding Cold stress/Hypothermia.
Cold Stress/Hypothermia in newborn calf– Calves that become too chilled at birth because they are not sufficiently warm and dry or have not ingested colostrum in a timely manner have poor survival rates. If a calf becomes chilled before attempting to suckle, it may be unable to get the teat in its mouth. If the calf fails to nurse, it does not obtain the energy necessary to keep warm or the antibodies needed to protect against disease. The longer a calf is chilled, the more problems compound against its survival rate. Devaki was our our high risk calf not able to get up right away.
In February 2021, we were faced with yet another challenge from infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. Many Thanks to Veterinarians in south bay, we were able to do the containment of contagious pink infection stage 3 progressing to stage 4 spread amongst cows in Goshala.
To learn more about this disease- https://vetericyn.com/blog/stages-of-pinkeye-in-cattle/
Veterinary care for other medical problems
Many thanks to donors, efforts were undertaken to support the sanctuary and bring in much needed Veterinary care for treatment of other medical conditions in other cows.
Vaccination
Vaccination regime was reinstated for all cows including the calves.
Ensuring proper housing – Housing needs to be a comfortable, clean and well ventilated shelter for cattle. Cattle can spend a lot of time using the area to regulate body temperature when humidity and temperature are high. An open shed helps to remove excess heat, water vapour, dust and microorganisms as well as provides a uniform distribution of air, Period, Besides, in winter, a cow’s skin is sensitive to the cold, so during sustained wet weather in colder months, they need to be protected from rain or they can suffer from hypothermia.The shed was built to provide them refuge in hot weathers as well as protection from winter rain storms.
Medical check up area set-up – Every animal sanctuary needs an area where vets and their teams can perform physical examinations or treat injured four legged residents. Possible options presented were either an expensive chute or DIY alley which would allow animals to walk through and be safely secured so vets could give them necessary medical care. Thanks to support from donors, we are able to convert a dirt patch into a concrete floor with secured panels walkways to facilitate any future vet visits and medical check ups. It may not be the perfect solution but when hunger presents a bigger priority, an expensive chute was not an available option for these animals. Veterinarians have agreed to use the current arrangement to give the cows their necessary medical treatment.There’s always room for improvement and do things for better. With more donor support, we will continue to work in that direction.
Animal health and welfare – We worked to expand the existing pastures. Cows in grazing systems are often healthier than animals housed in confinement. Animals have more space and fresh air. Pasture provides livestock with nutrition, vitamins, minerals and trace elements – promoting animal health and productivity. If pastures have limited nutrients, animals may lose weight . Pasture forage is the ideal meal for most cattle, as it contains all the nutrients they need to thrive..
We support goshala where baby calves are nurtured well & receive proper nourishment from their mothers – Goshala or farm sanctuary is a learning environment for families and young children to observe the cycles of life. The sanctuary is a safe place where mothers can keep their baby calves, nurture them & teach them survival skills. Studies also show that calves which have contact with their mothers and other cows during rearing, end up becoming more sociable adults and have better chances of survival. When mother-child bonding stays intact, the calf will emotionally grow into a well supported social adult.Besides, learning about life cycles is an important way to develop children’s understanding of the world and help them understand and deal with weighty concepts such as life, death and birth.
