When some of us were children, we had a special something that made us feel safe and that we couldn’t be without. It may have been our blankie or a favorite stuffed animal.
Well, children might not be the only ones who have a special “safe” item.
Polly the goat has a safe item of her own…. it’s her duck costume. Polly’s human mom, Leanne Lauricella, spotted the child’s duck costume when she was shopping at Marshalls just before Halloween.
Lauricella, who runs Goats of Anarchy goat rescue of New Jersey, thought the fuzzy costume with a big yellow bill and matching webbed feet might look cute on one of her rescues.
So, she bought it.
When she got home, she put the costume on her special goat Polly. Poor little Polly has anxiety issues as well as other serious medical conditions. She is blind and has a neurological disorder that prevents her from eating properly and causes her to be underweight.
Polly’s anxiety is so bad that she runs around the house crying when she can’t find her mom. She also has other anxiety related 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 sucks marks from her mouth.”
Lauricella thought the duck costume would make a good photo op but she noticed a big change in Polly when she put it on her.
WARNING: What you’re about to see is exceptionally cute and quite possibly one of the cutest things you’ve ever seen!
“As soon as I put it on her, she just instantly got calm,” Lauricella explains.
Lauricella tried other pet calming clothing products to no avail and had no idea that the duck costume would do the trick.
“I tried a ThunderShirt,” Lauricella explains didn’t work. “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.”
The costume is now a fail safe for anytime Polly has an anxiety attack or when Lauricella has to take Polly with her because she can’t be left alone.
“She just calms down and goes to sleep,” Lauricella said. “Instantly. It’s become a thing she’s known for.”
Prepare for a cuteness overload because this photo is even more adorable.
Polly has also taken to a similar pig and fox costume, which also soothe her, but the duck is her fav hands down. Lauricella says her only regret is not buying a size up so Polly can grow into it.
A nice little boy even sent the Goats of Anarchy an extra duck costume so that Polly and her friend Pippa can each have one.
Now Polly’s new chill attitude is even helping other handicapped rescue goats to overcome their anxiety.
“When Pocket came home, I laid him on [Polly’s] and it just calmed her right down and she went to sleep,” said Lauricella. “It was almost like that suck costume. I’ve never seen her do that with another goat here.”
Polly’s story has even inspired a book that you can pre-order to help raise funds for Goats of Anarchy to help them take care of special needs goats like Polly and Pocket.
“Follow Polly’s story as this little blind goat adapts to her new life and how a fuzzy duck costume helped her gain confidence, find love with her new family, make new friends and become an internet sensation!” the books promo says.
You can pre-order the book here or visit goatsofanarchy.com to make a contribution to help rescue goats.
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