Broken hearts remain as greener pastures beckon Bruno

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

It is a tale of true love between two unlikely soul mates that survives the death of one who touched so many.

And it all started the same way it ended--with tears. Lisa Kafka couldn't resist the tears.

Even as a lifelong animal lover, Kafka knew animals couldn't cry. But she said there was no question that tears welled up in Bruno's big, soulful, doggy eyes every time she turned to leave.

"I couldn't deny it. I was taken over completely by this animal," she recalled. "It was a heart connection. It just blew you out of the water. He was so different."

She was smitten and had to make Bruno hers regardless the obstacles, and there were many. Kafka had no money, and even if she did, Bruno already had been sold for a sizable sum. And beyond all that, she had no place to keep him.

Then there was the biggest problem of all: Bruno was a solid one-ton steer.

But through Kafka's persistence, Bruno found a permanent home here among friends and strangers who embraced the gentle giant.

She met Bruno shortly after moving with her family from suburban Chicago to the Parker area. Currently a veterinary technician at a Fort Collins animal hospital, she planned to attend the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Kafka promptly got involved rescuing abused horses bound for slaughter, boarding some of them at a nearby ranch. Bruno was among three Brown Swiss steers pastured there. Something special about him called out to Kafka. She'd slip in to visit him until she got caught and told in no uncertain terms to stay out.

Kafka went to bid the steer a tearful farewell, turning back to see Bruno tearing up, too. It was then she came to the "completely irrational" conclusion that she had to have him.

She had no money, but Kafka was undeterred and destiny was on her side. She arrived home before anybody else to find her $1,500 financial aid check had arrived, allowing her to clandestinely apply it toward Bruno's purchase.

But then there was the challenge of convincing rancher Don Britton to sell her the steer rather than shipping him to the slaughterhouse. He refused to budge, Kafka recalled, despite her unending barrage of begging, crying, pleading and baked-goods bribery attempts.

He finally surrendered to the not-to-be-denied Kafka, reluctantly selling Bruno to her in February 2001 - fully expecting she soon would be begging him to take back the big Brown that could have easily crushed her.

No way. He was home to stay on property Kafka's sister leased from George and Liz Varra off Highway 287 east of LaPorte. Bruno in all his regal magnificence basked in the attention of visitors, commuters and truckers, who sometimes greeted him with their own kind of horns, according to Kafka.

But she clearly was his master and the love of his life. Kafka said Bruno greeted her with the enthusiasm of a pet pooch, ground trembling as his full-grown, nearly 3,000-pounds came thundering to her side.

"He was just like a dog, not a mean bone in his body," she said.

Bruno, Kafka said, had a special love for children and other animals, vigilantly protecting his two rescue goat companions from predators. When one of them died, she said, he once again cried.

Those nurturing qualities, she said, caused a few to join her in deleting meat from their diet.

"He was aware, he was bright," Kafka said. "People don't think of the animals they eat as having a personality."

In early March, Bruno clearly was failing, so Kafka brought him to the CSU vet hospital. It was familiar territory because several professors had used him in lectures and he was "somewhat famous in the veterinary and animal-loving community," according to Kafka.

Bruno was diagnosed with a serious abdominal infection. It was then that Kafka really learned how many were so deeply attached to Bruno.

"He had countless people come to wish him well in the hospital and pay their respects," she said.

Despite the best efforts of his longtime vet Dr. Bruce Connally and surgeon Dr. Rob Callan, Bruno continued to slide after surgery and was euthanized on March 11. At the end, an announcement went through the hospital and, Kafka said, some 20 people surrounded Bruno as he slipped away.

"I had no idea how many people he touched over the years," she said. "There wasn't a dry eye in the hospital and even the large animal food vets and vet students were devastated over his loss."

She since has been overwhelmed by condolences from every quarter.

"I am still receiving cards and letters from strangers who knew and loved him and will miss seeing him on their daily commutes," she said. "Many people are still asking what happened to him."

Kafka put up a memorial banner until it blew down and was replaced with flowers.

"I wanted to let everyone who loved him know that he has moved on to greener pastures," she said. "He was definitely one of a kind. It was one of those magical bonds.