Somewhere in Wailua Homesteads, lives a calf that shares its name with a Kaua‘i Humane Society officer. Baby Mana, as Bernadette de Rodrigues’ calf has come to be called, would not be alive today if not for the know-how of
Somewhere in Wailua Homesteads, lives a calf that shares its name with a Kaua‘i Humane Society officer.
Baby Mana, as Bernadette de Rodrigues’ calf has come to be called, would not be alive today if not for the know-how of Officer Mana Brown.
On March 29, Rodrigues had been home alone when she noticed her heifer, Fanny, laying on the ground. The other heifers seemed to be acting strangely and avoiding her, a Humane Society press release states.
She continued to watch Fanny as the animal struggled to breathe.
“Ms. Rodrigues admits she knows nothing about animals but she believed Fanny might be in labor,” the release states.
At the time, she and her husband didn’t know that any of their four heifers had been bred when they moved with them to the island in February.
The animal’s breathing worsened as Rodrigues called numerous veterinarians. None cared for large animals.
Fanny was now in major distress.
Rodrigues said she “freaked out” because this particular heifer belonged to her 14-year-old son, Richard.
Just then, a Kaua‘i Humane Society vehicle happened to drive by.
“She flagged down the officer, somehow managed to explain the emergency to him and led him to her dying cow,” the release said. “He calmly told her, ‘don’t worry, everything will be all right.’”
Brown, who was born and raised on a farm on the North Shore of O‘ahu, quickly assessed the dying pregnant cow. Realizing its calf had turned in the wrong direction, Brown reached into the heifer’s birth canal and righted the breeched calf.
According to an article titled “Get ‘em out alive,” on Beefmagazine.com, most calves are born head-first with their front feet extended, but a few are positioned backward and may not survive birth without help.
Once Brown moved the calf, Fanny found the strength to stand and soon, Rodrigues saw the head and legs of a healthy male calf. The officer gently tugged on the calf then cleaned the newborn before returning him to his mother to bond.
“Ms. Rodrigues looked at the officer, who was covered in blood and mud,” the release said. “He smiled and said, ‘by the way, my name is Mana.’”
She tried to pay the officer twice, but he wouldn’t take a penny.
“She knew she had met the Kaua‘i aloha spirit in Mana,” the release states, a value she had hoped to share with her children upon moving to the island.
Brown has been with the Kaua‘i Humane Society for a little over a year. Last month’s cow rescue isn’t the first time he has helped a cow with a difficult birth. He was glad he was there to help, the release states.
“Rodrigues was happy to report that Fanny and ‘baby Mana’ were healthy and doing well.”
