Actually it's not Holy Cow, it's Holey Cow.
Well technically it's
fistulated cows.
Cows that have had a fistula (porthole) surgically installed, so researchers, and lurkers, can see the digestion process in one of the cows 4 stomachs.
No, it doesn't hurt them and in reality, in exchange for this indignity, they lead long and pampered lives.
Having witnessed this several times during my misspent youth, I can personally attest, it smells much worse inside the cow than it does when it comes out the back end.
