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Ox Goofy in the paddock in Hamburg-Volksdorf:
Photo: Georg Wendt / dpa
Goofy is standing in a pasture and chewing on an old piece of bread.
Thick fog hangs over the thatched roofs of the surrounding farmhouses.
The ox looks bored.
In spite of everything.
He has only just escaped death, and soon he will be subjugated.
Literally.
After the holidays, his training as a draft ox begins in the Volksdorf museum village in north-east Hamburg.
Goofy has to learn to carry a harness and pull loads.
At first he will practice with a car tire in tow, later he will plow in the field.
It is still a bit narrow, it weighs around 400 kilograms, 700 or 800 would be better. Over the months and years the animal should become stronger, so the farmers feed it well: hay, silage, beets, beetroot.
Perhaps one day the museum will be able to use him on the harvest parade, where he will pull a decorated wagon loaded with pumpkins or apples.
Goofy expect around 50 working days per year - unless the animal rights activists, who have discovered their heart for the ox, prevail.
The activists have already prevented the slaughter of Goofy, now the task is to free him from "lifelong slavery," writes one of the sanctuaries that Goofy would like to take in.
Around 23,000 people have signed an online petition for this.
There are now regular “vigils” under the motto “Fridays for Goofy” in Volksdorf.
This Friday morning, five police cars and a television team have already moved up to the museum village.
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