Displaced dairy cows find shelter locally

TRUMBULL Co., Ohio (WKBN) – Sunday night a devastating fire ripped through Comp Dairy Farm in Ashtabula County, leaving the family scrambling to find a place for over 1,000 cows in need of milking.

Tuesday, some of the cows found safety at a farm in Trumbull County, one of several locations that the family has been transporting cattle to over the last 24 hours.

“The hardest part was finding places that had milking parlors to milk the cows. That’s the biggest thing for why we had to move them was we had to get them milked,” said Elisha Comp-Gozzard, daughter of the farm owner.

The fire heavily damaged the farm’s milking parlor where cows were being milked when the flames broke out. Most of the cattle were rushed to safety but the family said there were a handful that didn’t make it.

“Cows are consistent and they thrive off of comfort. Obviously, yesterday wasn’t consistent and it was not conformable for them,” said Comp-Gozzard.

“We were able to get those cows into wonderful places. And They have even graciously texted us pictures to let us know that our girls are okay,” Comp-Gozzard said. “The people who were able to keep our cows consistent and comfortable. It was absolutely amazing.”

The family says they still have dry cows that they kept at the farm and heffers who aren’t in need of milking. Their priority is making sure the cattle that were moved are comfortable and still producing milk.

“They’ve all been milked multiple times. Just the stress of new parlors, new people handling them — these girls are used to a lot of the same people. And then transportation— that’s all very stressful. I’m sure production was down,” said Mandy Orahood with the Ohio Farm Bureau.

The farm says they’re not sure when the milking parlor will be back up and running. They’re still in the process of assessing the damage but are thankful for the support from the agricultural community.

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