Cow cuddling has become a thing for lonely hearts in the pandemic

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Inspired Life

Cow cuddling has become a thing for lonely hearts in the pandemic



James Higgins, who runs the Krishna Cow Sanctuary in Hawaii, cuddles with Uma. (Krishna Cow Sanctuary)

By Kellie B. Gormly
March 8, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Renee Behinfar lives alone in Scottsdale, Ariz. The pandemic has been painfully isolating for her and has left her longing for warmth and touch. ... On a recent afternoon, she finally was smothered in long-awaited hugs — by a 2,000-pound cow. ... “It was really my first real hug of the year,” said Behinfar, 43, a psychologist who sought out bovine comfort with a friend.

People are signing up to hug cows at sanctuaries across the country, many desperate for affection as the nation approaches a full year of social distancing during the pandemic.

When Sammy the cow, who was rescued from a dairy farm, laid her head in Behinfar’s lap and fell asleep, Behinfar began to cry. The pandemic, she said, has been a time of unprecedented loneliness. ... “In the end, I really didn’t want to let her go,” Behinfar said.

Behinfar brought a friend with her to Aimee’s Farm Animal Sanctuary in Queen Creek, Ariz., near Phoenix, to cuddle cows as a birthday present for the friend.

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Jeannie Whalen, 76, hugs Moothias, whom she credits with comforting her after her husband, Walter, died in May. (Tina Karalekas)

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A visitor at the Mountain Horse Farm in Upstate New York enjoys a cow-cuddling session. (Mountain Horse Farm)

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James Higgins cuddles with Tulsi. (Krishna Cow Sanctuary)

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[LizBeth]

1. All this time the cows went without hugs cause we saw them only as food.

Makes one want to be a vegetarian more and more.

[SheltieLover]

7. Yup!

[soothsayer]

2. Annnd the virus leapt into a new species

(It didn’t)

[Yonnie3]

3. Baby goat cuddling is popular in Central Virginia and they fit in your lap.

https://gardenandgun.com/articles/heres-your-chance-to-snuggle-with-goats/

Here’s Your Chance to Snuggle with Goats

A farm in Virginia just might have the best cure for whatever ails you: getting your goat

By Kinsey Gidick

March 17, 2021

S’more is a little shy. Frankly, so am I. Weighing no more than five pounds, the three-day-old baby goat eyes me suspiciously from the corner of a low-slung shed. I stare back. I didn’t grow up doing 4H; I wasn’t raised on a farm; and I certainly wasn’t a member of the FFA, so I’m not entirely sure what to do here. I put out my hand and like a puppy, S’more inches over to sniff. Then, to my surprise, she gives my finger a lick. Two steps on her wobbly hooves later and she’s in my lap, cuddled nose to nose, a warm bundle of sweet fluff. “I think she likes you, Mom,” my five-year-old son, Wells, says. She just might—mission accomplished.

... snipped ...

Warning, cute baby goat pictures at link!

[3catwoman3]

5. What a relief to get to the end of the linked article and see...

...that they are selling goat cheese, not goat meat.

[3catwoman3]

4. I would so sign up for this.

I sent the link to my younger son's girlfriend, who loves cows.

[Karadeniz]

6. Here or somewhere, there was a post about a farm where the horses are raised to interact with

People emotionally... petting, lying down together. There really is something about cows, horses, mules that's extremely reassuring. One feels safe leaning onto one. Maybe the size, the warmth, I don't know, but it feels so good being near them.

[idziak4ever1234]

8. Those pot-bellied pigs seem hugable