Inseparable mini-horse and goose escape abuse and find a forever home

We’ve seen our share of unlikely friendships, but a goose and a miniature horse who are best friends? That’s a new one!

Last summer the Bucks County SPCA in Pennsylvania responded to a report of animal cruelty and made a sad discovery. The run-down barn contained almost a dozen ducks, two peacocks, a goose, and a miniature horse, all living in squalid conditions. The rescued animals were taken to a barn in Quakertown

The owners of these animals later plead guilty to animal cruelty charges and paid hefty fines. Meanwhile, the BCSPCA began the process of assessing the animals’ injuries and getting them ready to be adopted to loving homes. Almost instantly staff members noticed that Waffles the miniature horse and Hemingway the goose had formed a tight bond during their days in the squalid barn where they’d lived. In fact, it soon became clear that the pair were best friends.

“We have them in the barn together and one of the staff observed one day that Hemingway was leaning his head in and kind of had his neck wrapped over Waffle’s shoulder,” said Cindy Kelly, spokeswoman for the Bucks County Society for the

Waffles was treated for a minor infection, and whenever he was taken to the treatment room his friend Hemingway would get very upset. The SPCA shared the story of their friendship on their social media pages, and soon local TV station WFMZ covered the story. As soon as people heard of their unlikely friendship they went viral, and before long the adoption applications flooded the rescue’s offices

More than 150 people applied to adopt Waffles and Hemingway together, but the big winner turned out to be Maddie and Nick, a couple with a small hobby farm in southeastern Pennsylvania. Maddie already has a horse