Imagine it’s finals week and your friends invite you to go see a cow visiting campus. His name is Moo, and the moment you pet him, you can feel the stress and nerves melt away against the cold air biting your skin. The laptop screen that was once burned into your brain is now replaced with a golden-brown cow that is lying down and patiently waiting for more people to pet him. Unfortunately for Chatham University students, Moo’s days of stress-relief have come to an end.
Knowhere Farm announced at the end of this past summer that Moo would be retiring from being a cuddle cow through the farm’s Instagram and thus, would not visit for the 2025-26 academic year.
“It’s really more that I’m retiring than he is,” Mary Campbell said, the owner of Knowhere Farm.
Working with cuddle animals isn’t Campbell’s only job. In addition to managing Knowhere Farm, Campbell is also a full-time nurse.
“I turn 60 this year. I just found that it was becoming too much, and the cuddle business wasn’t enough to sustain me versus nursing. So, I had to choose.”
In addition to Campbell’s personal decision to step away from the cuddle business, Director of Student Engagement Marchaé Peters revealed that Moo wouldn’t be able to come to campus due to his age.
“Moo cannot travel, not their handler or anything like that. It was Moo who is unable to travel at this point any longer,” Peters said.
Even though Moo cannot travel, Peters also wanted to reassure students on Moo’s well-being.
“Nothing bad has happened to Moo. It’s just that he’s getting a little bit older, and he is now living a life of luxury at the farm,” she said.
Fortunately, Campbell has confirmed that Moo is still doing well.
“He’s as healthy as he ever was,” Campbell said as she brushed through his hair during the interview.
Although Moo has only visited since 2024, his presence will be greatly missed during finals week.
“Everything was looking down and then I was like ‘I’m going to go see Moo. I think that might help,’ and it did. I had a good time,” Carmela Capasso ‘27 said. “I just remember everybody was talking about how stressed they were, and they were so excited to see Moo.”
While Moo can never be replaced, the Office of Student Engagement is looking into ways for students to experience cuddle animals both on and off of campus in the future.
“We definitely have some alumni who have emotional support animals and therapy animals that we’re working with and hope to get those on campus frequently,” Student Engagement and Leadership Coordinator Toyaii Rutherford said.
“We have a running list of some local places that we can either take students or that come to us,” Peters said.
Some examples include La Farm Girls who have a traveling cow, Barnyard Petting Zoo and Quack A Doodle Doo Mobile Petting Zoo. However, the University has not booked such events for this semester to date.
If students want to give feedback or suggestions regarding what events they want to see at Chatham, they can use the “Let Your Voice Be Heard Survey” QR code when they attend campus events, visit Peters in Room 102 in the Carriage House, visit Rutherford in Woodland Hall or email Student Engagement at studentengagement@chatham.edu.
If students want to see Moo and other animals from Knowhere Farm, they can follow them on Instagram at @knowherefarm, TikTok at @knowherefarm.lovecows or knowherefarm/happiness happens, Facebook by searching Knowhere Farm, and and YouTube at @knowherefarmcuddlecows.