Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A young cow that fled from a slaughterhouse will get to spend the rest of her days on an animal farm project where only animals live together in harmony, with no farmers.

The drama began on 24th December at midday when staff at the animal charity Gut Aiderbichl, which is an Alpine Farm on the outskirts of the Austrian city of Salzburg that has been turned into a haven for animals got a call from a woman who spotted that the cow had escaped from the slaughterhouse.

Despite the fact that it was Christmas Eve, they sent a team which located the terrified animal and attempted to win its trust before deciding to rescue it.

They tracked down the owner of the cow, and arranged to pay him compensation for the meat that he would lose, and after he agreed, the cow was taken to the animal farm where she will now spend the rest of her days living in an Alpine pasture and sheltering in traditional wooden barns during the winter.

The Gut Aiderbichl project was set up by a German millionaire businessman Michael Aufhauser who decided he wanted to do something to help animals and purchase the sporting property on the outskirts of Salzburg to turn it into a paradise for animals.

Speaking to Newsflash, the animal charities spokesperson Dieter Ehrengruber said: “We turned up just in time. The farmer who owned the escaped cow had already started looking for her to bring her back to the slaughterhouse, and we were lucky to be able to secure her as a new resident.

They said they had named her “Lieni” and that although still shocked from her ordeal, after being released into the pasture she had calmed down and could now enjoy the “Christmas miracle” that had saved her.

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