Bunny the calf was only four weeks old when he was found, but they were four weeks of pure hell. Bunny was born on a dairy farm in New South Wales, Australia. Sadly, male calves are considered useless, so they are sent to slaughter so their mother’s milk can be used for human consumption.
A woman living in Sydney heard about Bunny and adopted him. Although her intentions were good, she was inexperienced in caring for a cow, so the calf did not receive the proper care. When Kelly Nelder went to a property to pick up three pigs, including a piglet she later named Baby, she spotted the lonely calf. He was extremely underweight, sitting in a dirty pen, and was so weak that he barely lifted his head up when she went near him.
Nelder is the founder of Sugarshine Farm Sanctuary near Lismore, Australia, which is where she took the three pigs and the calf. Because Bunny was so sick, Nelder didn’t want to leave him alone. She kept him in her house and even gave him a little mattress in the sunroom to sleep on. But no matter how hard Nelder tried to keep each animal separated, she would walk into the sun-room to find Baby the piglet nuzzling bunny’s face. Every time Nelder took Baby into the other room, she would run right back to Bunny.
She stopped separating them when she realized that Bunny also enjoyed Baby’s company and snuggles. Bunny would use baby as a pillow, and the both of them helped the other feel more at ease. Although the two came from the same property, they had never met each other until now; but the two seem to act as if they’ve been best friends forever.
The next couple of weeks would be anything but easy for Bunny. His health quickly deteriorated into a downward spiral. The only constant was his best friend, Baby, who never left his side. Bunny had developed pneumonia and had trouble breathing. He was put on medication but things got even worse when he started having seizures. Nelder and her vet thought it was best to euthanize her so that she wouldn’t have to deal with this inevitable pain anymore, but her vet was not available at that moment.
After the seizures, Baby would snuggle up to Bunny and soothe him. The next day, Nelder tried again to get in touch with her vet to put Bunny down, but then the unthinkable happened. “As I was on the phone with the vet nurse, I noticed Baby dancing around Bunny’s face,” Nelder told The Dodo. “Bunny had his head up and his eyes were open. This sounds unbelievable, but it’s true! I told the vet I’d call him back.”
From that point on, Bunny’s roller coaster ride started going up. Bunny began to slowly walk on his own again, and whenever he fell down, baby would run over to him. Today, Bunny is doing much better but still has to be on antibiotics for his joint issues, which is a result of his pneumonia. He is very playful and curious and enjoys spending time with his best piggy friend.
“I believe that the love and affection and confident spirit that Baby Piglet shared with Bunny absolutely made a difference to his recovery,” Nelder told The Dodo. “Probably a life or death difference. Seeing Bunny and Baby happy and healthy together remind me that the world is a beautiful place, and that the love animals can give is boundless.”
Watch the videos of Bunny and Baby together below:
