French cow farmers turn to acupuncture as alternative for animal health

Record ID: 1985262

  • Title: French cow farmers turn to acupuncture as alternative for animal health
  • Date: 19th March 2025
  • Summary: PLOUNEVEZ-MOEDEC, FRANCE (MARCH 17, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOVINE ACUPUNCTURIST, NAYLA CHERINO PARRA, STICKING NEEDLE ONTO COW DURING TRAINING SESSION WITH FARMERS (RED MARKS ARE FROM MARKER) VARIOUS OF COWS FEEDING CHERINO PARRA SPEAKING TO FARMERS CHERINO PARRA HOLDING ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) BOVINE ACUPUNCTURIST, NAYLA CHERINO PARRA, STICKING NEEDLE
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Brittany France acupuncture agriculture dairy farming
  • Location: PLOUNEVEZ-MOEDEC AND GUINGAMP, FRANCE
  • City: PLOUNEVEZ-MOEDEC AND GUINGAMP, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA001999819032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Nayla Cherino Parra held her hand steady on a cow's forehead as it wiggled slightly after she pricked its forehead with an acupuncture needle.
    "If it gets tense, I wait, I adapt to the rhythm of the cow," she said.
    The bovine acupuncturist was holding a training session attended by a dozen dairy farmers near the French town of Guingamp, in Brittany, on Monday (March 17), in which she presented several acupuncture points where needles can be administered in order to boost immunity, improve milk production and help with pain and other health issues.
    Based in Normandy, Cherino Parra holds training sessions with farmers around France on the use of the traditional Chinese medicine on cows mainly as a "preventive approach," but also as an alternative to the use of "chemical" treatments.
    "Be it for cows that have mastitis or a calf that is coughing, we specific acupuncture points that accompany the animal in order to allow it to regain its state of balance," she said.
    Though not many scientific studies have been conducted in France to prove the efficiency of usage of acupuncture on bovines, several farmers who practise it on their cows say they have observed positive results.
    According to a 1997 finding by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, acupuncture could be helpful in alleviating muscular and skeletal pain, as well as gastrointestinal problems. Other more recent studies though have shown minimal to no evidence of its efficacy on animals, including horses and dogs.
    The method's rise in popularity in France in recent years has led several regional chambers of agriculture to encourage its use as a preventive measure and a way to reduce dependence on chemical medicines.
    The practice has particularly drawn a younger generation of farmers who prefer to avoid the usage of antibiotics, Brittany Chamber of Agriculture representative Arnaud Cousi said.
    "I think regulations are going in this direction, the Ecoantibio plan (campaign by Ministry of Agriculture to reduce usage of antibiotics) has shown that there are alternatives especially in the preventive management in terms of antibiotics," he said.
    Cherino Parra, who previously practised acupuncture on farm animals as a veterinarian, said she closed her cabinet in 2018 in order to organise training sessions around the country.
    Asked whether she views bovine acupuncture as a replacement to chemical medicines, Cherino Parra said: "I don't advocate comparisons in medicine, I'm not opposing one against the other. But it's all about integrating them as a whole."
    She added that using acupuncture as a preventive measure has environmental benefits.
    "When an animal ingests medicine, its body has to flush it out," she said. "These medical residues end up in the soil."
    In Monday's training, dairy farmer Marion Le Gall hesitated before she stuck an acupuncture needle on a cow for the first time. She sighed in relief after the cow remained calm after being pricked.
    "I was a veterinary assistant for 10 years, so I'm quite interested by anything in the medical field, and I'm interested in treating cows without necessarily using antibiotics but rather a softer approach," Le Gall said.
    (Production: Ardee Napolitano)
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