Local Cows Express Concern

A proposed dairy in Swift County will be the state's largest if county officials give it the go ahead. The East Dublin Dairy would house 6,600 cows on a 120 acres of land. Some local residents are worried about odors from the dairy, and say the county and the state need to further investigate the environmental affects of such a large farm. Supporters of East Dublin Dairy say the farm will not be an environmental hazard and should boost the area economy.

--from mpr.org

To date, however, no one has asked the cows what they think.

A local Jersey, identified only as "Bessie" states her concerns about the end of a way of life. "We like it, the small town feel of East Dublin. I mean, we chose not to live in the big city, but now we're going to lose that special community you get when you know everybody."

Some express concern for the calves. "Well, once you have that many cows, you have a lot more competition, don't you?" Mrs. Buttercup gestured to her two calves, who were wearing basketball jerseys and gym shorts. "These two have been looking forward to playing varsity sports for years, but now there's no guarantee they'll even make the team. It's a huge disappointment."

Local law enforcement also has concerns. "Look, you get a large number of cows in a short time, you don't know who they are, who their dams are," says Shep, a black-and-white border collie who keeps order among the cows in East Dublin. "We don't want to see some cows coming in, flagging their gang colors, spraying grafitti to mark their territories. We just don't have the dogpower to keep that many cows in order if things get out of hand."

A contrary point of view was expressed by Fernando, a large bull sporting an iron nose ring. "Yeah, well, that should improve my live, ya know? I mean, sure, all cows look the same in the dark, but I appreciate some fresh talent, you know what I mean?"