Framingham firefighters are seen helping some of the several cows that were trapped in a barn collapse at the farm, Wednesday morning, February 19, 2014.
Three cows were crushed to death this morning at a Framingham dairy farm when their feeding shelter collapsed under snow and ice, their horrified owner said.
Doug Stephan, owner of Eastleigh Farm on Edmands Road, said the cows had been milked and were having breakfast when the metal roof buckled and gave way.
“This is just another example of the weather and the impact on all of us,” Stephan said. “It’s relentless and it just keeps on coming.”
The city’s Department of Public Works and Framingham firefighter rushed to respond and managed to save at least five cows from the wreckage, lifting them out of the debris with a harness attached to a tractor.
Stephan said while he was grateful no humans were hurt, “I’ve been around cows all my life. They’re very precious to me. They’re not just a commodity. The cows are treated like members of the family. In their first year of life they’re like dogs. They’d follow you into the house if they could get into the house. They all have names, they all have history, they all have family and lineage.”
Stephan said the farm, which has been in operation for centuries, keeps approximately 70 Jersey cows in the winter. The farm sells raw milk and cheese.
The shelter, he said, was “a very strong, well-built building. So the fact that it succumbed under the weight of the snow tells you something about the kind of winter we’re having.”
The city crews who rushed to help may not know much about cows, but, “They put their shoulder into it,” Stephan said. “For that I am proud to be a Framingham resident.”
Source: Boston Herald
