The lady who runs a goat rescue group, chanced upon a cute duck costume for children. Later on, she realized the effect it could have on her newest rescued goat suffering from some serious medical issues.
Leanne Lauricella runs a goat rescue group called Goats of Anarchy in New Jersey. Just before Halloween, Lauricella went shopping at Marshalls. As she was browsing down the aisles of the shopping mall, she chanced upon a child’s duck costume.
It certainly caught her attention, as it looked very cute and realistic, with a huge orange bill and two webbed feet. It amused her to think that she could put the costume for one of her baby goats, especially the newest addition to the rescue goat team, the little one named Polly.
Not thinking much about it, she casually bought the costume. She had absolutely no idea what a great change it would make in Polly’s little life, and to her own.
Polly is afflicted with varied serious medical issues. She’s blind, has neurological problems that affect her eating ability and is severely underweight for her age. And above all, she also suffers from anxiety.
When Polly is left alone and she fails to find Lauricella, she gets extremely anxious and frantically runs around the house, crying out to her.
Lauricella also noticed some weird habits in Polly, which she thinks are linked to her anxiety issues.
“She’ll find a corner of a wall in the house, and she’ll just start sucking on the wall,” Lauricella told The Dodo. “So all the corners in our house have these little suck marks from her mouth.”
When Lauricella returned home with the duck costume she playfully put it on Polly, making her look cute, and she thought of taking a photo.
But something amazing happened.
“As soon as I put it on her, she just instantly got calm,” Lauricella said.
The duck suit, being made of a thick warm material, probably had the same warm feel to it as being covered in a thick, cozy blanket. It seemed to have the same calming effect as a Thundershirt does. But for Polly, it was the the duck costume that seemed to do the trick in a much better manner.
“I tried a ThunderShirt — it didn’t work,” Lauricella said. “There’s something about that duck costume that calms her. She goes into a little trance. She just closes her eyes and she’s out.”
Lauricella knows exactly what to do now in case Polly has one of her anxiety attacks. She immediately produces the duck costume, straddles her in it and – wonder of wonders – Polly goes calm.
“She just calms down and goes to sleep,” Lauricella said. “Instantly. It’s become a thing that she’s known for.”
Polly refuses to stay alone at home and that becomes difficult for Lauricella if she has to run errands. So once when Lauricella had to visit a local store, she carried Polly.
Once there, she put the magic suit on. The little kid snoozed off in the shopping cart.
Although other costumes seem to do the same trick on Polly, like the pig costume and a fox costume, the duck costume has proven to work its magic on Polly without fail.
Polly is still small and manages to fit into the costume, but Lauricella worry is about when she gets a little bigger… and eventually outgrow her duck costume. “I’ve started regretting that I didn’t buy the next size up,” she said.
But Lauricella is always looking for solutions to look after the kids in her care. When another rescue goat named Pocket, who is handicapped, arrived, this is what she did.
“When Pocket came home, I laid him on [Polly’s] back… and it just calmed her right down and she went to sleep,” Lauricella said. “It was almost like that duck costume. I’ve noticed that anytime he’s lying next to her, she just gets calm. I’ve never seen her do that with another goat here.”
Lauricella hopes Polly and Pocket will not separate and continue to provide each other company. “I’m hoping she won’t need [her duck suit],” Lauricella said. “I hope that Pocket becomes her duck suit.”
When one being gives warmth and comfort to another, where would there be a need for superficial means! Wish you loads of love and warmth in your lives!
This story was originally published on The Dodo.
