He will finally spend happy days on a farm in Isère! The six-legged calf born in Aveyron, operated successfully but which had to be sent to the slaughterhouse after fattening, was purchased by the ociation Œuvre d’istance aux bêtes d’abattoirs (Oaba), which named this Sistine female.
His case had moved social networks, even the activist journalist Hugo Clément who spoke of his disastrous fate in his column on France Inter.
In September 2022, this female calf was born on a farm in Saint-Geniez-d’Olt-et-d’Aubrac (Aveyron) with six legs. Suffering from polymelia, a rare disease affecting one in 25,000 cattle, the animal was born with two additional legs placed behind its head, at the birth of the back.
He lived normally for two months before being successfully operated on by the Causse veterinary clinic in Aubrac in Saint-Geniez-d’Olt-et-d’Aubrac. The beautiful story was widely relayed in November 2022 on social networks and the Limousin calf continued to grow with its mother in its Aveyron meadow.
“The breeder just did his job”
The future of the little calf came back into the spotlight when Internet users learned that it would soon go to the slaughterhouse, sold for its meat. An edifying decision for the journalist Hugo Clément who pointed out the paradox of our relationship with animals, loving with domestic animals and consuming farm animals without empathy.
The farmer was then the target of violent criticism on the Internet, and the case of the calf attracted the attention of animal protection ociations. The Oaba ociation then offered to buy the cattle from the farmer to save him from the slaughterhouse. An offer finally accepted by the breeder, affected by the violence of the comments on his activity on social networks.
The Causse veterinary clinic in Aubrac, always in contact with the breeder, acted as intermediary in this process. “We had a lot of calls and emails from people who protested the breeder’s decision, but we are in a rural area, this calf was part of a suckling cattle farm sold for its meat,” specifies the clinical. It’s thanks to breeders that France is fed, he just did his job and takes care of his animals. It’s good news that this story has a happy ending, but one might wonder why this calf more than another? His malformation moved Internet users, but there is also a rural economic reality to take into account. »
Sixtine may be sponsored
After negotiations with the breeder this weekend, Oaba announced this Monday morning the acquisition of the most famous calf in France. “He will be transferred at our expense to Isère in the Herd of Happiness as soon as possible, by the end of September,” says the animal protection ociation, created in 1961 and which has around forty farms throughout France. Then, our partner host will kindly integrate it into the rest of the herd. The young heifer will thus be able to live peacefully among the other rescued cattle. »
As soon as she arrives, Sixtine can be sponsored on the ociation’s website by people who are moved by her fate.