The Story of Emily the Cow

In recent posts, we have covered such heavy hitting topics as Druid magic, Bigfoot, and the Berlin Wall. Therefore, let us lighten it up a bit with a short story just for laughs and giggles. To that end…while wondering some upscale suburb of Boston, I noticed a big cow statue. Then, I noticed a nearby statue of Mahatma Ghandi. Both statues were completely out of place in the courtyard of some expensive townhomes. PT had to investigate this situation. Thankfully, my investigation yielded results. Therefore, please relax and enjoy the story of Emily the Cow.

Back in November 1995, Emily the cow was being herded toward her doom at a slaughterhouse in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Not ready to become steak and hamburger, Emily jumped a gate and made a break for it. She was successful in escaping the slaughterhouse. Furthermore, Emily remained on the lam for several weeks. Emily’s exploits became a favorite of the media. Reportedly, local residents aided and abetted her efforts through some sort of underground cow railroad. Eventually, Emily found sanctuary at the Peace Abbey. The Peace Abbey was an organization actively working to promote peace throughout the world. Consequently, the nice folks at Peace Abbey settled this dispute. The Peace Abbey paid off the slaughterhouse and adopted Emily into their organization.

In addition to the pacifist movement, the folks at Peace Abbey apparently were also big vegan/animal rights activists. Obviously, both the vegan movement and animal rights activism where core beliefs for Emily. Therefore, Emily remained at the Peace Abbey to be the spokes-cow for these causes. Visitors from all over the nation and world often visited the Peace Abbey to pay their respect to Emily. Sadly, due to cancer, Emily’s life only lasted another 7 years or so. Just prior to her death, the Hindu priest, Krishna Bhatta Emily, blessed Emily and gave her the proper Hindu send off. Upon her passing, Emily’s caretakers buried her in the courtyard in front of the Peace Abbey. Additionally, the gentles souls at the Peace Abbey commissions a very nice, life sized, bronze statue to mark her grave.

Typically, you would think the death of the cow is the end of the story. Not so. As I mentioned earlier, the first purpose of the Peace Abbey is pacifism. Emily was just buried in the Abbey’s open courtyard. Rather, the Peace Abbey gave Emily an honored location within their existing pacifist memorial. In fact, they honored Emily’s life so much that she was given a position between Mother Teresa and Muhatma Ghandi.

Sadly, the realities of life apply to peaceful, vegan, animal rights activists as well. Several years after Emily’s death, the pacifists sold the Peace Abbey to developers. The developers tore down the Peace Abbey to construct higher end townhomes. However, the pacifists only sold to the developers with the condition that the entire memorial shall remain intact. So, if you visit there today, it looks something like this…

Incidentally, the entirety of the Pacifist Memorial consists of 6 brick walls with 75 plaques in total. Each plaque contains a pacifist quote from such people as Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr, Albert Einstein, and of course, John Lennon. This is in addition to a statue of Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and a cow. Visualize these items, set it in the front yard of up scale townhomes, and you can see why I was drawn to this location. The Pacifist Memorial is a nice stop if you are in Sherborn, Massachusetts. You can channel your inner vegan-pacifist and learn more about the story of Emily the Cow. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoys reading “The Story of Emily the Cow” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

If you want another touching animal story, check this out https://travelingwithpt.com/forget-biden-trump-its-about-wilbur/

If you need more on this movement, they have a website, of course https://www.peaceabbey.org/visit-peace-memorials-in-sherborn/