Fernando Garcia had already declared the day over when he received an urgent phone call. More than a thousand buffaloes had been abandoned without water or food in a farm in the interior of São Paulo. About thirty minutes later, the narrative photographer was in the car of criminal lawyer Antilia Reis, on his way to the Água Sumida farm, in Brotas. I had no idea that it would record scenes of the biggest case of animal abuse in the history of Brazil.
More than a thousand abandoned buffaloes. At least 90% of them are pregnant. I must say: I am also pregnant right now. And I can’t even imagine the hunger pain of these confined females, deprived of food and even pasture, removed by the farm’s owner.
I, a female who eats breakfast—snack, lunch, snack, dinner—live with the feeling that I no longer have a stomach, but a black hole inside me. I cannot imagine the pain of these females.
When he arrived in Brotas, what Fernando found was, in his words, “a scenario of war”. But he insists on stressing: “war between human beings and buffaloes”. Fernando is not a vegan and, despite being “a balanced and serious professional”, he reported that he cried to the point where he was unable to edit the photos taken on the spot.
With an intense work routine —he can stand up to nine hours by a single click and is used to making technical autopsy reports—, Fernando shared that this was, without a doubt, the greatest tragedy he has ever narrated through photographs.
“There are hundreds of animals screaming in pain, hunger, thirst, day and night. In the improperly made ditches, buffaloes were dumped on top of each other, some of them still alive, even.”
War scenario. These words were also used by activist and publicist Larissa Maluf to describe what became known as the “Case of the buffaloes of Brotas”. Larissa says that the hunger situation was so extreme that, upon entering the place, the volunteers noticed signs of bite on the bark of the trees.
Over the five days he was on the farm, Fernando made records that invert the logic of narrative photography of drama, revealing moments of joy and affection of completely debilitated animals.
But the more technical records are also part of their work, for expert reports that are being made by NGOs that work in the area, such as ARA (Love and Respect for Animals). “Sometimes I can’t take pictures of the carcasses because of the smell. I wear a mask and, over the mask, a blouse tied over my face. But there are times when I can’t.”
Apparently, the abandonment of the herd was deliberate, since the farmer Luiz Augusto Pinheiro de Souza would have decided to interrupt the production of buffalo milk to lease the land of more than 700 hectares for the planting of soybeans.
The case of the buffaloes in Brotas is shocking because of its brutality, but that brutality does not end at the Água Sumida site. The scenes of cruelty and animal exploitation have been widely disseminated on social networks, and the revolt is perhaps not “just” in relation to the abandonment and abuse to which more than a thousand pregnant buffaloes were subjected.
It is the revolt of those who felt cheated all their lives by eating animal derivatives and realized, through an exemplary case, that cattle raising is, by definition, a daily and cold exercise in animal exploitation.
Larissa narrates that the “war scenario” has shocked not only the more than 20 activists who are at the scene, but the population of Brotas, the police, police chief and investigator involved in the case. And that it has received hundreds of messages from people who are following the case through social networks (@bufalas_de_brotas on instagram), who report that they are no longer able to eat dairy products.
Buffalo mozzarella has no glamor above tomatoes: it is the result of suffering, just like all the other cheeses and milks that fill supermarket shelves.
A calf is removed from its mother at just two days old, and forced to “suck” in mango trees.
About thirty days after calving, the cow is placed in her fertile period artificially, through hormonal induction, and then undergoes a process of artificial insemination.
I, as a pregnant female, cannot even imagine the profound pain these females and their babies experience over the few months or years they live to satisfy, for a few seconds, the taste buds of human beings.
Fernando told me, at the end of our conversation, that he started to consider veganism after everything he had witnessed. May this case serve at least for more people to realize that it is almost impossible to raise animals with dignity in a production system that treats them as commodities, including disposables when they become unprofitable.
Even for those who buy dairy products that theoretically were produced in a system that claims to be “respectful”, there is no way of knowing, all the time, whether the milk used in the cafeteria cake came from a “happy” cow, or whether the mozzarella in the pizza was developed from the milk naturally produced by the cow at a specific moment in her life.
There is no animal on the plate, in the cup or in the sandwich without suffering.
Service
The work of the volunteers involves an enormous cost with medicines, the operation of a field hospital and food for the recovery of the buffaloes.
The NGO ARA, which has the provisional judicial custody of the animals, is collecting donations so that the rescue can be carried out.
Therefore, I finish with the PIX number for anyone who can and wants to contribute: CNPJ 14.732.153/0001-38.
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
