Charity the cow can finally rest in peace. The “most perfect cow that ever was” died a quiet death in 1988. The world famous show cow was lovingly buried at the only home she likely knew, the idyllic Hanover Hill Farm in Port Perry, her grave marked by a large rock, flowers and a plaque that reads: “The legend that compels our imaginations to carry it on.” But Charity the statue, installed last summer in a small parkette on Charity Cres. in Markham, would not be blessed with a similarly dignified end. After a year of turmoil and controversy, the statue was carefully and unceremoniously taken down from its pedestal Wednesday morning — to be returned to the developer who donated it, Helen Roman-Barber. A large crane hoisted Charity off its eight-metre high stilts as residents and city staff looked on. Contractors carefully attached Charity to a crane and brought it down to safer ground. The statue was placed on the back of a trailer, secured with ropes, cushioned with blankets, and driven to her next home — believed to be the artist’s studio in Barrie. Local Markham Councillor Alan Ho arrived to see the tail end of the spectacle, saying he was “happy to see the closure of this issue.”In a statement, the City of Markham said it was “paying for part of the cost of removing Charity, which is less than $25,000. The donor is responsible for other costs. We are not aware of Charity’s final location.”A spokesman for the developer did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Mounted into the Markham sky last July, the larger than life stainless-steel statue would have enshrined the bovine in the memories of people forever.But the award-winning cow — who was the Supreme Champion of the Holsteins at the World Dairy Expo in 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1987 and a nine-time all-Canadian or all-American show cow — never managed to win over her new audience. Residents were upset to see the memori ...
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