According to the USDA Livestock Slaughter Annual Summary, around 29-30 million cattle are slaughtered annually for food, of which roughly 400,000 to 500,000 are calves that are butchered for veal.
One family, the Zelmans, decided to make a difference.
On May 14, 2026, a documentary filmed by Joanna Zelman, a content producer and filmmaker, moved the hearts of thousands of viewers by depicting how she and her father, Jared, a retired emergency medicine physician, risked their safety to save the lives of two male calves named Mickey and Moose.
Highlights
- Joanna, a filmmaker, and her father, Jared, drove from Vermont to Maryland to help save two baby calves from their doomed fates.
- The 600-mile drive saw some hiccups, including one where Jared got kicked in the ribs, and Joanna lost her phone.
- The sanctuary that took in the calves planned to reunite one of them with his mother, but tragic circumstances prevented it.
In an exclusive interview with Bored Panda, Joanna revealed why she volunteered for the task and what their contribution meant for the animals, and she shared some hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
“Most male calves don't get a long life in the dairy industry,” Joanna told us while revisiting the journey.
A father-daughter duo stepped in to help two calves reach their forever homes
Image credits: Cow Trip / Joanna Zelman LLC
Joanna’s film, titled Cow Trip, was shared on The Dodo’s YouTube channel and received a wave of positive reactions from viewers.
In 2022, Joanna went up to a dairy farm in Vermont to film Mickey’s birth after learning that the farm owner’s girlfriend, Alene Wheeler, who also worked there, wanted to save him and give him a different fate than most male calves.
Image credits: The Dodo
“They're usually sent for beef, or sometimes veal,” Joanna explained in a conversation with Bored Panda. “Cows need to give birth in order to make milk, so in the dairy industry, the moms are repeatedly impregnated. The baby is usually separated when she's born.”
Mickey had hit the “lottery” thanks to Alene and would instead go to Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit in Potomac, Maryland, dedicated to giving rescued farm animals a home.
Image credits: Cow Trip / Joanna Zelman LLC
However, the sanctuary needed help to drive Mickey from Vermont to Maryland, and Joanna decided to step up. She called her father, who readily agreed.
As Joanna and Jared were getting ready for the drive to the farm, the sanctuary asked them to pick up a second calf, Moose, from another farm in Vermont. They obliged, and soon they were on the road with the two one-week-old calves comfortably settled on hay stacks in the back of their car.
The pair sustained minor injuries in the “chaos” of the 600-mile drive
Image credits: Cow Trip / Joanna Zelman LLC
The 600-mile drive from Vermont to Maryland went without any major crisis, but there were certainly a few moments of utter chaos. At first, Mickey, who had looked a bit unwell before leaving the farm, had a health scare.
Jared contacted the sanctuary for advice, informing them that Mickey was breathing much faster than Moose. He was told to take Mickey to a vet hospital. However, after some time and a few affectionate licks from Moose, Mickey perked up and looked better.
At one point, Moose mistakenly tried to nurse on Mickey, and the two started kicking each other, causing quite a commotion that led to a couple of minor injuries and Joanna losing her phone.
Image credits: Cow Trip / Joanna Zelman LLC
“Baby cows naturally suckle from their moms for months, so when they're separated at such a young age, they're trying to suckle anything,” Joanna told us. “One of the calves confused the other calf's genitalia for an udder… they started kicking each other.”
Jared got kicked in the ribs, and Joanna hurt her hand when she put it inside Moose’s mouth for the calf to suckle on it instead. Her phone fell out of the open door, but they went back 30 minutes later and retrieved it from the roadside.
“It’s one of my favorite scenes in the whole video,” Joanna said.
Her father’s favorite part, other than spending time with his daughter, was stopping at a gas station to stock up on supplies, where the employee was overjoyed to pet and feed the two calves.
“In juxtaposition to the realities of the hard, long trip were the many moments of laughter and shared purpose I shared with Joanna,” Jared told Bored Panda. “I especially enjoyed being part of the joy experienced by the young woman working at the gas station when she was able to join us in feeding the calves through the car window.”
Mickey had almost reunited with his mother before tragedy struck
Image credits: The Dodo
In the farming industry, mothers and children do not usually see each other again once the children are separated. But it could have been different for Mickey and his mother, Twenty-Two.
The father-daughter duo visited Mickey and Moose a week after dropping them off at Rosie’s, and then again when they were six weeks old.
Image credits: Cow Trip / Joanna Zelman LLC
During their first visit, the sanctuary revealed that they had plans to bring Twenty-Two over as well once the Vermont farm was done selling her milk. However, Alene reached out a few weeks later with the sad news that the cow had passed away.
“We had to put Twenty-Two down yesterday. She somehow damaged her front knee and could not stand up,” Alene’s text read. “We had a vet evaluate her, and they chose to put her down. I was really hoping to see her retire at your beautiful sanctuary.”
“I guess we dreamed a little too big,” Joanna added while reading it to her father.
Alene also visited Mickey when he was five months old. She admitted in the film that she worked less at the farm now, because it was painful to know the fate that awaited the animals: “A challenge to see the heartbreak, especially having given birth ourselves.”
Mickey and Moose, who are all grown up now, have become very good friends and are currently doing “wonderfully,” Joanna shared with us: “They're 4 years old now, and still bonded as ever.”
"A beautiful emotional rollercoaster." Netizens showered love on the story of Joanna Zelman and her father saving two baby cows
