Baby rescue goat's anxiety soothed by dressing in duck costume

ANNANDALE, N.J., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A New Jersey woman said she found an unusual treatment for her rescue goat suffering from anxiety -- dressing the small animal in a child's duck costume.

Leanne Lauricella, who runs the Goats of Anarchy rescue group in Annandale, said a baby goat named Polly recently came to live with her and she soon realized the goat, which suffers from blindness and neurological issues, frequently displayed signs of severe anxiety.

Lauricella sand Polly will run around the house crying loudly if she can't find her owner, and will "find a corner of a wall in the house, and she'll just start sucking on the wall,"

"So all the corners in our house have these little suck marks from her mouth," Lauricella told The Dodo.

She said the solution came in the form of a child's duck costume -- complete with a hood and a pair of flippers -- she bought at Marshalls because she thought it would make for a cute Halloween photo.

"As soon as I put it on her, she just instantly got calm," Lauricella said. "There's something about that duck costume that calms her. She goes into a little trance. She just closes her eyes and she's out."

The duck costume has made Polly a viral celebrity on social media, as well as a favorite of locals who see Polly around town with Lauricella.

Lauricella said Polly will soon outgrow the duck suit, but she now has numerous other costumes and is working on her anxiety issues with another new arrival to the rescue, a baby goat named Pocket.

"When Pocket came home, I laid him on [Polly's] back ... and it just calmed her right down and she went to sleep," Lauricella said. "It was almost like that duck costume. I've noticed that anytime he's lying next to her, she just gets calm. I've never seen her do that with another goat here."