Good news, Green Monsters! A French cow has been spared a trip to the slaughterhouse after the success of a 30,000-strong petition calling for her to be saved.

As she was being taken to her death in Saint-Romain-de-Popey, Rhône, the cow escaped by knocking down a barrier and metal grill which had enclosed her, before running into the courtyard of a local carpentry firm. This feisty girl was determined to put up a fight for her life! She required five doses of tranquillizer – and the presence of nine gendarmes – to finally calm down. The presence of these chemicals in her system rendered her inedible for a month, so her slaughter was postponed.

Her story caught the attention of Belgian animal lover Jasmine Cerfontaine, who gave her the name of “Marguerite” and started the Change.org petition that ultimately led to her release. Farmer André Bergéon agreed to sell Marguerite to French animal activist, Stéphane Lamart, saying, “He understood that my cow has a difficult personality and can’t go to a petting farm. … So I told him I’d take a euro for every signature on the petition and there were 10,000 signatures at that point.” He eventually sold her for €5,500 (approx. $6,072).

According to Christophe Buseniers, vice president of the Association Stéphane Lamart, Marguerite will now be transferred to a teaching farm in the Loir-et-Cher area, and “will live there for the rest of her life. This episode demonstrates just how much animals understand. At the abattoir, they don’t want to be killed.”

Marguerite has since been renamed “Cornette.”

French animal rights group L214 Éthique et Animaux have pointed out the irony of cheering on Marguerite/Cornette’s fight for life while ignoring the plight of countless other cows just like her. Spokesperson Brigitte Gothière said, “Why this cow and not the others? Thousands of cows are killed very day and some of the same people who are campaigning for this cow’s life, eat other dead cows every day. It just highlights the paradox that thinking, empathizing people eat meat, because logically speaking, no one who loves animals should eat meat. It’s ironic and sad that one cow gets media attention when thousands of others are killed in abattoirs every day and no one says anything.”

You can help donate for the cost of Cornette’s future care by clicking here.

Lead image source: Assocation Stéphane Lamart/Facebook