While most Chinese celebrate the cow for the Year of the Ox, one woman lives in the hills of Yuen Long saving them from slaughter. An army of adopted cows – 109 in total – are under the care of the passionate Yeung Yeung, activist and bovine lover. Since 1997, Yeung’s been caring for homeless wild cows to save them from abattoirs and abuse.

Yeung Yeung – which she translates as ‘Sheep Sheep’, thinking of herself as a shepherd – was a school teacher and a regular “city person,” until, one day while roaming the hills of the New Territories, she had an epiphany. “I read in the papers that the government was going to develop a piece of land in the New Territories,” recalls Yeung Yeung. “I went there and asked the cows to leave. I said to the leader cow, ‘You should leave now – if you don’t, they will ship you away and kill you’. The one sitting down, it got up and led the pack away. So then I understood that we can speak the same language.”

Within a year, Yeung Yeung had started Cow’s Home, a shelter where the cows could peacefully spend the rest of their lives. Though her hopes of it being a place where students can visit and learn about environmental preservation are yet to be realised, she continues to work hard for the animals she loves. She sleeps in a tent beside the stables, waking up at 4am each day to prepare for a daily five-hour walk with the cows along the hillsides. In the afternoons, she goes to town before feeding the herd and putting them to sleep around 8pm. Some of her cows later wake her in the night, hungry for a snack.

Unlike the typical owner-pet relationship, Yeung Yeung is truly friends with her creatures. They listen to her when she calls (sometimes from a microphone and speaker she carries), and she has comical names for the all 109. “I just name them when they walk up to me,” she says as she explains the origins of monikers such as Long Neck, Smartie Bean, Blondie, Da Da, and Pearl Mama. “And we’ve spent so many years together – of course we recognise each other.”

To see Yeung Yeung walk her cows is an impressive proposition. She walks the herd to feed in an area in which grass is becoming increasingly scarce because of development. “I really just want to protect the cows. I can’t understand why people want to hurt the cows so badly. I wish the government could just give a piece of land for these animals. Is that really so hard?”

Yeung Yeung relies solely on donations from her supporters to keep Cow’s Home running. But the shelter is under threat for another reason, as the land it occupies is set to be redeveloped. The government, fearing complaints from prospective neighbours, has been reluctant to respond to Yeung Yeung’s ongoing petition for a new piece of land for Cow’s Home.

“Cows can live for about 30 years. I don’t know what will happen to them after I’m gone,” she says of her deepest worry. “I know my name is Yeung Yeung, but really anyone in Hong Kong can be Yeung Yeung. Anyone can do something to protect these animals.”

Bourree Lam

Cows Home Hong Kong, Lot 1631 Tai Tong Valley, Yuen Long, N.T. Yeung Yeung welcomes visitors and donations. See: www.cowshomehk.org.