A calf delivered after its mother died following a savage dog attack has been taken under the udder of a caring foster cow.
Cute Prescott was born by emergency C-section on March 8, moments after his mother Gene was euthanized after being mauled by two pit bulls.
Gene, a Maine Anjou Angus cross, was catastrophically injured in the nighttime attack on the Cows and Creeks Farm in Sam’s Valley, Oregon, USA, the day before Prescott’s birth.
Farmer Tamara Heidebrink, 52, was horrified when two the dogs, believed to be pit bulls, launched an attack on pregnant Gene, who was sleeping in the farm’s barnyard.
Tamara and her neighbor shot one of the dogs and frightened the other away, but Gene had already suffered devastating injuries to her leg, udder and neck.
The pregnant cow was put down the next morning following advice from a local vet, and baby Prescott was delivered through C-section.
Despite the trauma, the calf is now thriving thanks to the help of his foster mum Lily-Mae who has been nurturing the baby following his mum’s death.
Tamara said: “Luckily Prescott has found a foster mum.
“Lily Mae has taken him right under her wing and he’s feeding on her milk.
“It’s slow progress but luckily he’s alive.
“On Thursday night, I was on the phone to my best friend when I heard mooing.
“The barnyard is about 100 feet away from our house.
“The mooing was different than usual and in retrospect it was a cow in peril.
“We have a cougar problem so I worried it was that.
“I had a gun in my car but it wasn’t loaded so I ran and called my neighbor who rushed over.
“We approached the barn and we could see the cow was under attack by two pit bulls. I was trembling. I had never seen such a thing.
“My neighbor started shooting at them and actually shot one.
“It was at that point the other one came out of the barn and looked at me like I was next.
“I pulled the metal garbage can in front of me to act as a barrier.
“Then he just ran in the opposite direction.
“Gene was substantially injured.
“A huge chunk of her leg was ripped off, the nipple of her udder was lacerated.
“She had been bitten under her chin and there was a huge swollen bubble there covered with her fur.
“When the vet came the next morning, it was explained that there was
a huge risk of infection, including mastitis.
“She was in a lot of pain and it might have been a long, slow death for her.
“It was advised that the humane thing to do was to put her down.
“We euthanized her and the vet delivered the calf seconds later by C-section.”
Tamara, an Airbnb host, said her pet dog Dak, 2, also played an important role in Prescott’s survival.
Tamara said: “The calf wasn’t doing very well initially but my dog was incredible.
“He licked her all over her body and cleaned her and the calf perked right up. It was phenomenal.
“I’m a big Dallas Cowboys fan so I named my dog after Dak Prescott and because the dog and cow got along so well I named the calf Prescott.
Baby Prescott is currently spending time with his foster mum at a farm in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, until he is strong enough to move back to Tamara’s farm.
Tamara said: “He’s with Lily-Mae right now at my friend’s farm where he’s on a mixture of her milk and also bottled milk. We have to bottle feed him so we can do it when he comes back.
“We’re getting him strong enough to come home.”
The farmer reported the attack to the Jackson County Animal Control who confirmed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.