Bonnie, a female cow raised on a beef farm and once facing slaughter, has been given a chance to live out her life at Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary in New York, alongside her new friend Owen — a male cow who jumped the sanctuary’s 5-foot fence to get closer to her, MSN reported.
The half-mile trek from the beef farm Bonnie escaped to the sanctuary was short but not easy. She had to “climb up a pretty steep hill and make her way through the woods and then down a hill through the neighbor’s grassy meadow,” the sanctuary’s Executive Director, Ellen Crain, told People.
When Bonnie showed up on the other side of the sanctuary’s fence, Owen was so eager to get to her that he jumped over and began licking and grooming the runaway cow. When the staff went to bring Owen back, a shy, hesitant Bonnie moved away into the trees. But she kept returning to the fence, and Owen would wander over to meet her.
Someone else was also searching for the little cow — the beef farmer whose property she’d escaped. Despite his efforts, Bonnie avoided being captured.
“Eventually, because she kept hanging around, we wondered if he might get tired of trying to catch her, and he would relinquish her to our sanctuary,” Crain said. “I think she was sort of telling us she wanted to join our herd.”
The farmer finally gave up and agreed to surrender Bonnie to the sanctuary. Bonnie joined the 170 animals at the sanctuary — which included Owen and eight other cows — and began settling in with her new family. The two have been inseparable since.
Cows are intelligent and often compared to dogs with their love for play and affectionate behavior. They’re also social animals who form close bonds with their friends and family. Bonnie has started forming friendships with several of the other cows, but there’s something special between her and Owen. Besides Matteo — who was rescued from a dairy farm alongside Owen when they were both calves — Bonnie is the first cow with whom he’s shown such a strong friendship, showcased in a sweet Instagram video.
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Lady Freethinker applauds Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary for giving Bonnie a new life full of friends, family, and lots of love, and Owen, for befriending Bonnie and guiding her to her new home.
