When Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary first met the tiny calf, Bentley, they worried he might not survive. At fourteen days old, Bentley was refusing to eat or drink any milk.
Erin Amerman did everything she could to get the calf to eat. “We were like, ‘What is going on?’” When Erin and her team reached out to a veterinarian, he diagnosed Bentley with “dummy calf syndrome.”
Because Bentley was born with an oxygen deficiency, the calf did not know how to nurse and did not consider it an option. “We were very, very concerned that he wasn’t going to make it,” said Erin.
Erin and her team decided to introduce Bentley to another cow at Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary. The cow’s name was Stanley. Since Stanley had likely been deprived of oxygen at birth, Erin and her team hoped the two would understand one another.
“It was pretty much love at first sight,” said Erin. As soon as Stanley and Bentley met, the older cow showed the baby affection, giving Bentley kisses and cleaning him through the gate.
That interaction with Stanley turned out to be exactly what Bentley needed. The moment he returned, Bentley ate solid food for the first time since he had arrived at the sanctuary.
Thanks to the older cow, Bentley got a second chance at life. “[Stanley] really seemed to bring out the happy calf in him,” said Erin. “It seems like Bentley decided that Stanley was his mom.”
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