Camel becomes blind horse’s ‘seeing eye’
A blind horse befriended an unusual companion at a United States zoo.
Mare Dolly has teamed up with camel Caesar to help her confidently move around her paddock and barn.
Dolly has been based at Pony X-Press Zoo in Winslow, Maine, for 10 years.
Recently her eyesight deteriorated and she is now almost completely blind.
Five-year-old Caesar was in need of a companion so they decided to introduce him to Dolly.
The pair now live together in the same enclosure, and have become inseparable according to zoo owners Ed Papsis and Candis Veilleux.
“We put the horse in there and she just kind of bonded with him and he bonded with her,” Mr Papsis told WGME-TV.
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“She’s probably the only horse that has a seeing eye camel.”
The zoo owners, who take their animals to fairs, schools and nursing homes, say Dolly has been helping to teach Caesar manners.
“She kept teaching him right and wrong and how to act, and as she lost her sight, she depended more and more on him,” Mr Papsis told WABI TV.
“He would kind of be her eyes as far as if she was lost and couldn’t find something, he’d bellow to her and she’d whinny back and they’d come to the feed bucket or whatever they were looking for.”
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Social media reaction
The story of Dolly and Caesar’s unlikely friendship has gone viral on social media, generating thousands of likes and comments on Facebook.
“They are so adorable,” said Karen Matthews Baird.
“It’s so amazing that animals know how to help a less fortunate one,” added Violette Ebeling.
While Bob Esterman said: “We should all be as considerate as the camel is.”
“Moral of the story…animals have more compassion than humans,” added Plezi Gaye.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.