KINGSTON TOWNSHIP -- An educational dairy farm in Luzerne County has found a way for people to interact with its cows after making its main barn off limits.
People threatened to sue The Lands at Hillside Farms near Dallas over safety issues, but the dairy farm has found a solution to carry on its mission.
The newest calf at The Lands at Hillside is named Blizzard. The little guy has a fitting name; he was born during the snowstorm on Saturday.
Blizzard and his other calf friends are now in their own nursery, open to the public.
"It's been fantastic," said director of education Lindsey Sutton. "It's really great for the calves. They get a lot of socialization while they're over here."
The dairy barn where the calves used to be -- and where the rest of the dairy cows still are -- is off limits to the public after Hillside Farms settled one lawsuit and had two others threatened from people who said they were hurt in the barn.
But the farm came up with a way people can still see cows and learn from them.
This nonprofit's mission is to teach where food comes from, sustainability, and conservation. People can still see plenty of animals and cows.
"It's been really nice. It's much safer for the public to come over and visit the calves since they tend to be the big draw, and we still have our education cows as well," Sutton added.
"You can still see cows. I think that's what a lot of people are forgetting. You may not be able to see them getting milked, but they're not always in the barn anyways," said Tara Gwilliam-Gorski.
Gwilliam-Gorski brings a group from Cori's Place near Wilkes-Barre every week. Those with intellectual disabilities love seeing the calves. There's even a rocking chair and books to read the baby cows stories.
People comforting the calves, the calves helping teach people.
"This nursery is great. I bring my own daughter here and she gets to pet cows and she loves them. She moos with them and she's only 14 months. That's wonderful," said Gwilliam-Gorski.
There will be calves to interact with, see, and learn from at the Lands at Hillside Farms. They're expecting 10 new calves to be born in the next few months.
