Animals can form friendships, just like we can. When someone is kind and caring towards them, they tend to remember.
John Lewis Thunderheart is a cow who was rescued from a slaughterhouse at just 1 week old. Orphaned by his mother, the calf was malnourished and suffering from a nasty case of pneumonia. He was brought to The Gentle Barn farm animal shelter in California to see if they could save him.
The Gentle Barn founder, Ellie Laks, knew the calf’s condition was precarious. She immediately started lavishing him with medicine, good food, and lots of tender loving care.
“During his recovery, to avoid the extreme summer heat, we brought him into our house to have a clean and cool environment, and be nurtured round the clock,” Ellie explained. “With great veterinary care, antibiotics, anti inflammatories, nebulizer and oxygen therapy treatments, probiotics, Sun Chlorella Algae Super Food, and lots of love, he slowly recovered.”
From the moment John Lewis arrived at the sanctuary, he had an especially attentive nurse named Sky. Sky was surrendered by his original owners because he was too high energy for their family. The Gentle Farm intended to rehome him, but quickly discovered the dog is a natural healer who helps both people and animals whenever they are sick or sad. Now, he’s a permanent therapy dog at the shelter.
When Sky met John Lewis, it was love at first sight!
@thegentlebarn Friends come in all shapes and sizes and species #nationalbestfriendsday #cows #gentlebarn #dogs #unusualfriendships #rescuedanimals #animalsanctuary ♬ Home – Edith Whiskers
“From day 1 we were working to save his life,” Ellie recalled. “Sky protected him, soothed him, would lay down right next to him and curl up beside him. We just kept pouring love and comfort into him until he began to heal.”
Within a few weeks, John Lewis started to recover. He and Sky swapped cuddling in bed for running around the yard together like a couple of puppies. They were roughly the same size, but as John Lewis started to grow, their play became less rambunctious and more about giving kisses.
“John Lewis is now a year and 9 months and is at least five times bigger than Sky. He weighs a thousand pounds, and because of the size difference, they’re a little bit less physical with each other, but their love is just as strong today as it was the day they met.”
Ellie insists that humans can learn a lot from watching two such different animals become friends. If we keep an open mind and set aside what makes us different, we can often find much more common ground than we expected.
“To us, we see a dog and a cow, but to John Lewis and Sky, they just see friends, they see family, they see love,” she said. “They don’t see their differences, and I wish we could all be more like that.”
These sweet animals are a wonderful example for us all: More kisses, less arguing!
Share this story to give these cuties some virtual love.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.