A completely different type of farm can be found in the Pine Barrens region of southern New Jersey: The Amazing Funny Farm. Laurie Zaleski, New Jersey’s Doctor Doolittle, has created this sanctuary for animals that is open to the public twice a week.
Each animal is a rescue, whether it’s an abandoned or abused animal. Zaleski has helped more than 600 animals, from retired racehorses and raucous birds, over the past 20 years. She said, “We have 115 birds.” It sounded just like that!
Lesley Stahl, Correspondent, asked: “For those who have never been to the Funny Farm or never heard of it, how would they describe it?”
Zaleski responded, “I say Heaven on Earth especially for animals,” “And for people because you can feel inner peace and harmony when you pass through the gates. They all get along here.
“My mother owned the original Funny Farm and said that it was full of animals and suitable for lunatics!” Zaleski laughed.
As she writes in her book, “Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals” (Macmillan), there are lessons here for our polarized, at-each-others-throat society, because the creatures on the Funny Farm live in harmony, no matter how different they are. Although it’s not the Biblical story of the lion and the lamb lying down, the bond between Emily, the emu, and Airplane, the goose she named after her injured wings, is jaw-dropping. Zaleski stated, “That goose is always there,”
“Do you know the reason the goose loves the Emu?” Stahl asked.
“Maybe he prefers bigger women?” “I don’t know!” Zaleski laughed. “I don’t know! It’s possible she protected him at some point in the past that we don’t know. He thought, “You know, she is my protector, and I’m going to stay with her.”
Zaleski introduced us a cross-species couple, a donkey named Jethro and a very kissable Llamas named Lorenzo. Jethro lost his horse companion and, according to Zaleski, Jethro went into mourning.
“This poor man was suffering because of his sadness. Lorenzo arrived and they formed a bond. They found each other by chance. They are an odd couple, I think.
Yogi, the steer, and Cooper the alpaca might make for an even more bizarre couple. Zaleski stated, “Wherever Yogi goes he goes.”
Although they make a cute couple today, Yogi’s long-horned horns accidentally ripped a hole into Cooper’s side two years ago. Zaleski stated. “Yogi freaked out when I tried to bring Cooper to the hospital. He wept! He cried! It broke my heart! It broke my heart! “Where did you take him?”
Stahl asked: “Are they really missing? Do you attribute human emotions to your animals?” “You’re just making it up.”
She said, “I believe that they are missing each other.”
“But was it sorrowful?”
“I believe he was grieving. Sure. They don’t feel emotions. They have emotions.
“But scientists complain …”
“Scientists, schmientists!” Zaleski laughed. “What do they know?” What are they able to find in their backyard?
Jennifer Holland collected dozens stories of animal affection in “Unlikely Friendships (Workman), one among a series of unlikely bestsellers. Dogs and dolphins who swim in the same water are her favorite couple.
She said, “One of my favorite things is an iguana and a cat.” “The fact that the pet iguana would not only cuddle the cat but also let him play with his tail and lick him. These stories make me smile.
The former National Geographic staffer asked some questions as she was writing her books. Is this why it happens? I began to investigate it and discovered that there is no one answer. There are so many contexts and so many animals. It would be difficult to conduct a thorough study and explain the results.
However, with some companions, could it be an instinct to have a pet like a human desire to have a kitten? Holland stated that Holland believed that part of it may be a bit of the parental instinct, Holland said that this instinct could also include the desire to care for and mother a pet.
Sometimes, zookeepers place orphaned baby with mothers from another species who are breastfeeding. Holland was asked by Stahl if Holland thought that protection might be necessary, as in the case of the goose and her emu guard. A case of animal altruism. Holland stated that even if an animal is blind, another animal can become a seeing-eye pet and help that animal.
It’s possible to do anything when animals are young. Holland told of an unusual friendship involving a lion, a tiger, and a bear, three predators-turned-pals that were found as babies in a drug dealer’s basement and brought to an animal sanctuary where they became lifelong buddies. They were friends. These three animals would never have met in the wild. These three animals found something positive in each other and became friends.
“I believe you can see this in captivity so frequently because they are not competing for food or stressed. They have the luxury of being social with other animals.
Laurie Zaleski takes the “if you feed them they won’t fight” theory to another level. She lives with 35 animals, but they don’t eat one another. She said, “I have about 10 dogs and 20 cats, a bird who is louder that all of them together, and a chicken.” It’s like Noah’s Ark!
Stahl stated, “Saving animals was what Noah did.”
“I’m Biblical!” Zaleski laughed.
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Richard Buddenhagen produced the story. Editor: Mike Levine.
