When it comes to unlikely friendships, this one might be the GOAT.
Cinnamon, a female goat, and Felix, a male bulldog mix, are two “best friends” who wound up at the Wake County Animal Center in North Carolina after their owner became unable to care for them, the shelter said in a press release earlier this week.
It quickly became apparent the four-legged pals had a special relationship.
“Cinnamon is very independent around people but extremely bonded to Felix,” animal services community outreach manager Meagan Thomas told HuffPost in an email.
The goat “loves running around with Felix and ‘body-bumping,’ him a little as they run” and when Felix starts barking, Cinnamon will often chime in with her own bleats, Thomas said.
Felix also shows clear attachment to his herbivorous buddy, though Thomas admitted that the dog “seems to be less bonded toward Cinnamon than she is with him.” (We’ve all been there, Cinnamon.)
“This isn’t to say he isn’t bonded, but he doesn’t lose his mind if she isn’t around,” Thomas said.
On the other hand, when the shelter briefly separated the two friends upon their arrival, Cinnamon was “stressed and frantic” and started “bleating and calling out to the dog,” Jennifer Federico, director of animal services, told The Washington Post.
Felix behaves in a gentle manner with his companion and “seems to know that Cinnamon doesn’t enjoy body slamming or any other rough play,” Thomas said. “They cuddle together and coexist nicely.”
The shelter’s hunt for a home that could accommodate both animals spread far and wide after a Facebook post about the pair went viral. Ultimately, a New York-based dog rescue group, the Mr. Mo Project, helped locate a family in North Carolina that already had a small goat herd and space to adopt a dog.
Thomas told HuffPost on Thursday that Cinnamon and Felix hadn’t set out for their new home yet, but would be doing so soon.
Shelter staff members are relieved that the two animals can stay together.
“It’s a weird duo, but it works for them,” Federico told the Washington Post. “Who are we to judge? They obviously love each other.”