[Animal] Remarkable friendships from the animal world

[FazzNoth]

In the leafy Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey lies a very different kind of farm:  the astonishing Funny Farm, a not-for-profit animal sanctuary open to the public two days a week, created by New Jersey's own Doctor Doolittle, Laurie Zaleski.

Every animal here is a rescue – abused, abandoned, disabled – and Zaleski has healed and protected more than 600 animals over the last 20 years, from retired racehorses to raucous roosters. "We have 115 roosters," she said. And it sounded like it!

Correspondent Lesley Stahl asked, "For those people who have never been here, never even heard of the Funny Farm, how would you describe it?"

"I say Heaven on Earth, especially for animals," Zaleski replied. "And for people, because when you walk through the gates, you can feel the inner peace and harmony, because they all get along here.

"My mother had the original Funny Farm, and she said it's full of animals and fit for lunatics!" laughed Zaleski.

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. It's not quite the Biblical tale of the lion lying down with the lamb, but as friendships go, this bond between Emily the emu and a goose named Airplane (because of her wounded wings) is pretty jaw-dropping. "That goose is just always wherever.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/remarkable-friendships-from-the-animal-world/ar-AAZ9e8t