Matt Alexander and his fiancée, Maghin Davis, of Hathaway said they were worried she would die if no one bought her at auction.
For a Louisiana couple, a calf with an extra leg is just more to love.
Elsie the calf was born two weeks ago with five legs, but that didn’t stop Matt Alexander and his fiancée, Maghin Davis of Hathaway, from purchasing her at auction and giving her a loving new home.
“She seems to be living a really happy life,” Davis told InsideEdition.com. “She's running around and making friends. We released her to the pasture earlier this week or last week, and it's cute because there’s other cows in the pasture that have baby calves so they run around with her and play with her.”
Alexander explained that he heard about the special calf’s birth from a local barn. While little Elsie seems to be able to stand and play, she also has an extra appendage wrapped around the top of her head.
Knowing that the special calf may not survive if she wasn’t cared for properly, Alexander went to the livestock auction and made his bid.
“People started looking at her and the bidding started at $50 and nobody bid on it, so it went down to $35,” Alexander said, explaining that newborn calf biddings usually start at $100. “I figured nobody's going to want it, the barn's going to get it and it's probably going to die, so that's why I went ahead and got it.”
Davis said she wanted to get Elsie’s mom too, since calves have a smaller chance of surviving without their mom.
“My buddy was like, ‘If you want to waste money, just give me the money,’” Alexander recalled. “The rest of the crowd that was there is looking for animals to live off of, not something you have to take care of.”
Even so, the couple was determined to help little Elsie thrive, having her seen by a veterinarian and introducing her to the other cows in their pasture they keep as pets.
They’ve even made the unique cow a Facebook page to share her special qualities with the world.
“I knew we wouldn't be alone in loving her, but it’s cool to see how many people are really intrigued by her and want the best for her,” Davis said. “We’ll keep her as a pet and she will live her best life here.”
And when it comes to her leg, they said they have no plans of having it surgically removed anytime soon.
“You almost do put her at risk just to remove something that’s just cosmetically wrong,” Davis said. “Right now, it’s not a problem that’s inhibiting her in any way. She was born that way.”
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