Cash Cow

"Cash Cow" was a name given to a large creature used for illegal meat production near Cardiff on Earth in 2008. Its genuine species name was unknown. It was believed to have been taken from the sea when it was small, but due to a mutation which caused it to constantly grow, it soon reached a massive size and nearly filled up the warehouse it was kept in. This mutation allowed the producers to harvest meat from it while it was still alive, as it would just grow back. The keepers of the Cash Cow believed it was a non-sentient Terran creature from the depths of the ocean; however, Jack Harkness believed that it was not from Mutter's Spiral at all.

When they first learned of it, most of the team felt they should destroy the creature, or as Tosh put it, "Put it out of its misery". They also could not see any use for it in defence for its future. Jack however said they should save it as he felt it wasn't a threat and was just lost and being abused; it was their duty to protect and help it. Jack said once they rescued it, they would nurse it back to health, theorising the mutations would stop if it was no longer hurt. Once healed, he planned to send it back through the Rift. While the people who kept it imprisoned believed it to be just some mindless, deep-dwelling, undiscoverd sea creature, the Torchwood team discovered to their horror that the animal was actually sentient. When the team first found it, Jack said "Imprisoned, chained and drugged, welcome to planet Earth" and the creature opened its eyes and focused directly on Jack, making a sound different from the pained moans it usually made. All of the team were horrified when they discovered the extent of the mutilations (such as a huge hole carved out of the animal's side the size of a small cave) but none more so than Jack, who was shocked by the extent of the suffering that the helpless being had been put through.

It was put down by Owen Harper of Torchwood Three when the team raided the building to find the origin of the meat. (TW: Meat)

Behind the scenes

 * The Cash Cow bears a resemblance to the "Chicken Little" creature in the novel The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. However, "Chicken Little" was not sentient.
 * The "whale call" of the Cash Cow is identical to that of the Star Whale (DW: The Beast Below). While this is likely a simple reuse of sound effects, it could imply a relation between the two creatures, despite noticeable morphological differences. Both episodes are noteworthy for focusing on human abuse of sentient species.