Woman adopts calf from petting zoo because she felt sorry for him

A woman has adopted a 90lb cow from a petting zoo - and it sits on her sofa and gets taken for walks round the neighbourhood.

Mina Alali, 26, said she saw the "sad" 90lb calf in a small pen and claims he was shut away 24 hours a day without any home comforts. So Mina and her boyfriend Alex Saraceno, 25, asked if they could adopt him - and drove the cow named Moo to their home in the back of their car.

And now he's living the pampered life with a spacious garden to run around and plenty of toys to play with. Moo sleeps in the garage during the night but can be found snuggling on the sofa under a blanket during the day.

Mina - who also has a 65lb pet pot-bellied pig called Merlin - says she'll care for Moo until he gets too big for their two-bed home. And then they'll find him an animal sanctuary to live in while they get land of their own.

Mina, a content creator, from Sacramento, California, USA, said: "He was taken away from his mother at four days of age. We saw him when he was 10 days old, he was in a pen with hay shavings and some food and water. There were no blankets or toys and he barely moved. When we saw him, my boyfriend's sister thought he was dead because of how lifeless he looked."

After she got the call, Mina said she spent the day running around Sacramento buying materials to make a makeshift home for him. Mina said bringing one-month-old Moo home on November 4, was an "incredible" experience and they are excited to watch him grow.

Mina said: "I ran around the city to get everything I could to make a good den for him. I got hay, fencing, food and spent a lot of Friday getting it ready. We got him nice and early on Saturday and he has been healthy, gaining weight ever since and dancing around the yard. He absolutely loves Alex, I am a little jealous."

Mina is no stranger to adopting exotic animals, in 2023 she adopted Merlin, a pot-bellied pig as a house pet. But, Mina said that introducing Moo and Merlin is still a work in progress.

She said: "Moo wants Merlin to be his buddy and I hope that will be the case in a few weeks. Not only was Merlin an only child but pigs are prey and Merlin is in fight or flight mode and doesn't know what to think at the moment. Merlin can be very dramatic and will start to scream whenever Moo goes near him."

Mina plans to keep Moo at home for the time being but as he gets older and potentially more aggressive, Mina said she plans to put him in an animal sanctuary until her and Alex get land of their own.

Mina said: "We are trying to rehabilitate him, we are going to figure out the long term but he is ours. Alex and I plan on getting some land in the near future and we want to then maybe rescue another cow and have them all be buddies. Moo has such a strong bond with us he thinks we part of his herd. When we are outside and supervising him he loves to dance around the garden. When we come inside he will moo at the back door until we let him in."

During his time at the sanctuary Moo never had a visit from the vet so Mina and Alex are currently raising $8,000 for his vet bills.

Mina said: "He hasn't had a single vaccine or wellness check. We didn't know how much he weighed and wanted to make sure he was free of disease. We are fundraising as we are new at this, we don't live a lavish lifestyle and would love support to cover the medical expenses that Moo needs."