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Why is a two faced cow dying any more sad than all the one faced ones ...
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Actually, that's a good question. Why is it that we are drawn to relate to, sympathise with this calf? I think part of it is knowing we are looking at a newly born creature that isn't going to survive. The cows we kill for food have lived at least some of their lives. There is something deeply saddening about something trying to live and never standing a chance.
And that's the other thing that draws us, I think. That calf represents the full force of a desire for life and for survival. It shouldn't have survived to be born, yet it did. Despite everything against it, it made it into the air. And we know, looking at that picture, we are looking at that drive to live...and we are equally looking at the hopelessness of that drive in this instance. It barely tasted the air, but taste it it did.
Another disturbing aspect of pictures like that and also the cyclops kitten, comes when you read the article and become aware of the health problems that go with such deformity. We read the article and know that the new born creature we are looking at is suffering, and will never know anything but that suffering.