This is Tillai Devi, our first Animal Elder. She was saved from the slaughter on May 19 2008. This photo was taken just a few moments after she was untied. She will now spend her remaining years of retirement with us in peace, with love and our respects.

Tillai Devi had been milked all her life. She was sold because she ran dry of milk and she had become old. She was already bought up for slaughter and her neck was tied in such a manner, in a small vehicle, that her body could not move- to accommodate space for more old animals to be packed in together- enroute for slaughter.

Mukudal Village Farm/Our Sanctuary:

May 19 2008 was an auspicious Full Moon. As though to bless us, the clouds crossed the sky to provide us the much needed shade as this was a hot season.  We started the sacred fire (yagna) late afternoon to invoke all the Divine to guide, protect, nurture and grow our intent. As the yagna fire rose, the first drizzles of the season fell on us.

The work before us to ensure that not one Animal Elder is taken for slaughter! These old cows had been milked all its life. The oxen are made to lift heavy load each day under the hot sun until the day their legs have given way or old age has caught up on them.

Most of the old cows would have been tied in a shed with minimum grazing all its life- milked each day and fed dry hay. They may not have walked more that 2 miles any day of their life. The unsuspecting animal is then, one day sold by the owner to end up at the cattle auction centers.
Upon being bought up by slaughter houses that caters especially to the needs in the state of Kerala and exports to the Middle East, some of the the animals are jam packed together in trucks. Most are made to walk- a distance of over 50 kilometers each day over 3-4 days. 
Their sad journey begins with their tails being broken to create pain and fear and getting them to walk. Next, the herder starts applying chilli (pepper) powder in their anus. Throughout the route, minimal water is given. When in extreme exhaustion, the animal falls to the ground unable to move further, chilli powder is applied into their eyes.
This slow torture is until they reach the slaughterhouse in Kerala. At the slaughterhouse, it is obvious to these frightened animals that death await them. They try to resist the final death walk. Death in these primitive slaughterhouse is slow intense torture.

Almost all leather in America is imported from foreign countries, and one of the top leather producers is, surprisingly, India. Six years after a PETA video exposé of it, the leather industry in India continues to subject cows and other animals to illegal cruelty during transport and slaughter. Cows and other animals are forced to endure transport in extremely crowded trucks, suffering broken bones and dehydration, before having their throats slit in full view of other animals and sometimes being skinned and dismembered while still conscious.

If you're wearing leather, you're probably wearing leather from India or China, and conditions for animals in China are at least as bad as they are in India. Even if your shoes were manufactured in Italy, the United States, or another such country, the raw materials (skins) are probably from India or China.