Help! One Of Our Cows Is Missing!
Staff at Torre Abbey are far from a-moo-sed that callous cow-calating rustlers have stolen a model of a cow from outside of the Spanish Barn under the cover of darkness. A pair of fibreglass models of a cow and calf were placed outside of the Spanish Barn to promote the summer TAMED exhibition, starring Damien Hirst’s Mother & Child, Divided (Exhibition Copy). The Hirst piece features a real cow and calf, each cut in half and displayed in tanks of formaldehyde.
Pranksters have moved the full-sized model of a mother cow several times over recent nights, with staff finding her grazing in the middle of the nearby pitch and putt green on Monday morning. Although security had been beefed up with CCTV cameras pointed at the bovine duo and volunteers even offering to organise a steak-out, the cow just evaporated into thin air on Monday night.
The theft has been described as an “udder catastrophe” by the arts team at Torbay Council who have been running a special children’s competition involving the cows.
A spokesperson said: “We have been running a competition with young children to design a cow and calf using a special outline template they can pick up when they visit the exhibition. We have already received hundreds of designs and were also about to feature the competition in the local paper to allow even more youngsters to get involved.
“The best two designs voted for by our judging panel were then due to be painted onto the life-sized models of the cow and calf by a professional artist. The cattle would then have been a feature in the gardens of Torre Abbey for the next 12 months. We are really keen to reunite the mother with the udder one as soon as possible, so that all of our young artists aren’t too disappointed. The steaks are really high.”
Owners of the nearby One World Café on Abbey Park were really moo-ved by the story and have offered a fantastic reward for the safe return of the cow. They are offering ten delicious milkshakes for whoever can round up the cow and return it to safe pasture outside of the Spanish Barn. No questions will be asked.
The spokesman continued: “We really hope that the cow-nappers will examine their conscience and do the right thing. We would also like to add a year’s free entry to Torre Abbey in addition to the free milkshakes. It’s great that we can offer a proper reward and not just a pat on the head.”
If you have any information about the whereabouts of the cow, please call the Heifer Hotline on 01803 207258. Your call will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
