Visitors are flocking to Dumble Farm in Yorkshire, UK, to harness the potential mental health benefits of being up close with their furry residents.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:05 And they're so easy to brush. It's very therapeutic.
00:11 Which I didn't think I would say.
00:13 It's just really nice. I'm fond of all animals, especially cuddly ones.
00:19 So, yeah, being able to cuddle a big fluffy animal is really cool.
00:23 [Music]
00:34 People are coming for a sort of well-being point of view.
00:37 Just that anxiety relievingness of being next to, well, with animals really is almost like a therapy.
00:44 [Music]
00:54 We decided when we sold our dairy herd at the beginning of last year
00:58 that we had these five that we couldn't bear to part with.
01:01 They were our friends, almost like pets really, these five cows.
01:05 All really placid, friendly natures.
01:07 And we thought maybe we could try having a go at cow cuddling as a diversification really.
01:13 Just to earn a bit of extra money on top of our conservation scheme.
01:17 [Music]
01:22 They love it. They're quite inquisitive animals.
01:25 They like stuff going on. They're quite interested in when people come down to see them.
01:30 It took them a while to get used to it.
01:33 We did practice for months before we started doing it.
01:36 And it takes us a couple of hours before we actually bring the guests in each time we start.
01:42 We feed the cows a different food so they get nice full stomachs.
01:47 And they're laid down cuddling, all nice and quiet.
01:49 And that's the best time to cuddle them rather than when they're stood up and walking around.
01:54 [Music]