Ryan, of Life With Pigs Farm Sanctuary in Williamsburg, VA, has dedicated his life to making sure farm animals get their happily ever after.
They also make the animals they save a part of their family.
Ryan loved the sanctuary’s first cow Jenna just like she was his own daughter.
“I would sleep in the barn with her we’d put a blanket over us and she’d lay her head and sleep on me,” Ryan told The Dodo. “Her life revolved around me and my life revolved around her.”
Jenna was just 3-days-old when the sanctuary rescued her.
She was so little that Ryan had to bottle feed her.
But it wasn’t long before she was coming into the house to get her meals.
“She would chase me down and circle around me,” Ryan said. “It was a lot like raising a kid who just happened to be 1,400 pounds.”
While Jenna was getting along just fine with her human family, they felt it was time she made some friends like herself. So, they rescued another cow so Jenna would have a friend.
Maisie was rescued and brought to the sanctuary when she was 3-months-old.
While she was wary of the humans around her, Maisie let her guard down for Jenna.
“Jenna came right over and was waiting,” Ryan said. “While Maisie was still in the trailer, Jenna was mooing and then Maisie is answering back with her litter moos.”
Maisie didn’t want anything to do with her new humans.
But Jenna was showing so much interest in Maisie that it eventually won Maisie over.
“She was 3-months-old when we got her so she kind of had this big sister Jenna to make her feel safe around these scary humans,” Mallory, who also works at the sanctuary, said.
Jenna took Maisie under her wing, shared with her, and even showed her how to beat up on dad and have fun.
They were by each other’s sides non-stop for three whole months.
These two were official soulmates or cow-mates.
“Jenna helped Maisie come out of her shell. Jenna was always there while Maisie learned to be comfortable around humans and learned how to explore the world,” Mallory said. “She got to see that Jenna loves when we come over and scratch her. I think that helped Maisie when we come and scratch her.”
Over time, Maisie started to become attached to her human parents.
It took a good month before Maisie was ready to warm up to her parents.
Now they are all one big happy family.
“We see them running around together and headbutting each other,” Ryan said. “They love to chase us around. Maisie has gotten so playful where she runs like crazy and half the time your worry she’s just going to smash into a tree.”
Jenna was able to provide Maisie with a sense of security and the ability to trust humans and know that they meant her no harm.
“She gave her that ability to grow up and feel safe and feel like she had someone looking out to her,” Ryan said.
Ryan said seeing Jenna and Maisie made him realize that he’s succeeded in his efforts to give animals their “best happily ever after.” You can learn more about this beautiful cow/human family in the video below.
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