A blind baby goat with anxiety has found a cute and cuddly way to ease her fears.
Polly the goat is still a baby. She is blind, has anxiety and has neurological problems that won't allow her to eat normally. That has left her severely underweight.
But a chance discovery and a purchase on a whim has brought some comfort to Polly, The Dodo reported.
Leanne Laurichella, who runs Goats of Anarchy, a baby goat rescue in Annandale, New Jersey, found a child-sized duck costume before Halloween. She picked it up thinking that it would be cute for the goats in her rescue group.
Polly has been suffering from anxiety so much that she will go to a corner and start sucking on the wall, Lauricella said. But when the goat rescuer slipped the duck costume on the goat for a quick photo, Polly calmed down.
Lauricella said she tried to calm down Polly with anything she could find, including a traditional ThunderShirt or being wrapped in a blanket.
"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 told The Dodo.
If Polly has an anxiety attack, Lauricella slips the costume on her.
Going to a store is no big deal for Polly. She rides in the shopping cart just like any kid.
Polly doesn't just have the duck costume. She also has a pig and fox outfit, but Lauricella said that the duck is Polly's favorite.
As she got bigger, her favorite costume became to small for her at size 12. The Dodo reported that a little boy named Harrison kindly donated his duck costume -- which was the same as Polly's old one, only a few sizes bigger.
"(Harrison's mother) reached out to find out which size Polly was wearing," Lauricella said. "So I told her, and she said, 'That's perfect — my son has the next size up, and would love Polly to have it."
"Then she wrote to me, and said, 'We sent the package to you today.' Her son gave the costume one last hug at the post office, and they wrapped it up together and said goodbye. It was really sweet that a little boy that young wanted to donate his costume. He just loved that he was helping Polly."
Polly seems to appreciate the gesture. Lauricella said as soon as she put the new costume on, Polly was sound asleep.
If you would like to help Polly or the rest of the animals at the Goats of Anarchy rescue group, click here.
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