Dudley, steer with prosthetic foot and mascot of Gentle Barn in Tennessee, has died

Dudley, the 3-year-old Hereford steer whose surgery and prosthetic leg fitting prompted the founding of the Gentle Barn animal sanctuary in West Knox County, has died.

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Gentle Barn founder Ellie Laks announced Tuesday that Dudley, who had been having difficulty eating and defecating for a few days, died after “a ruptured ulcer tore apart his stomach.”

“There was nothing the surgeons could do to repair it,” Laks said in a Facebook post. “I don't know why these things happen, I don't know why extreme loss is a part of our earth experience, but I'm so deeply grateful to have been graced by Dudley over the last two years, and if we could do it all over again, we would.”

Dudley was 10 months old when he was bought at auction by a Middle Tennessee farmer. The bull lost his foot after his leg was entangled in baling twine, cutting off the circulation. Instead of selling Dudley for slaughter, the farmer gave him antibiotics for the infected foot, then turned him over to Laks and her husband, Jay Weiner, founders of the Gentle Barn animal sanctuary in California, who brought him to Knoxville in January 2015.

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The couple gave Dudley his name and an opportunity for a new life. A Florida professional spent 60 hours building the steer a custom prosthetic foot, with doctors and staff at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine taking on his surgeries and care.

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Shortly after, Laks and Weiner announced that rural West Knox County would be the site of the nation’s second Gentle Barn sanctuary, with Dudley as its first resident. In June 2015, the 125-acre sanctuary opened. More than 100 people turned out for Dudley’s 2nd birthday party the following January, and for his wedding to fellow Gentle Barn resident Destiny the cow last June.

Tennessee’s Gentle Barn now houses more than a dozen animals, including horses, pigs and chickens and has a combined mission of providing sanctuary/promoting vegetarianism and connecting animals with at-risk and special-needs children to help them overcome their own traumas, said Laks, who founded the original Gentle Barn in 1999.

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Many people felt a connection to Dudley, who required a new prosthesis about every six months. He had avid followers on social media and the Gentle Barn website, and his image graced T-shirts and drew visitors to the Tennessee sanctuary, which is open for tours, birthday parties and field trips, as well as to the public from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. Tickets, $20 ($10 for children), are available at www.gentlebarn.org. A documentary, “The Dudley Story,” tells about his short life.

“Jay and I, our staff and volunteers are in deep, deep, deep mourning,” Laks said. “I know you loved him, too, and grieve with us.”