Meet Marley, a piglet separated from her mamma. She fell off a factory farm truck that her mom was on, and she’s been away from her family ever since.

The tiny oinker was just shy of a few months old, and not having mom nearby was bad news.

She got picked up by the local animal shelter, where she spent time wandering around an enclosure. In time, she was picked up by an animal refuge.

We all know baby farm animals need their milk, and Marley could no longer depend on having a regular supply from mamma.

It was time for the folks as Sisu Refuge to get to work, as Marley was barely consuming anything. Most of the handling and overseeing of Marley was done by Erika, a Sisu Refuge worker.

Progress was slow, but after some trial and error with different fluids, Marley settled on liking fruit punch. It was all she drank for a short while.

She moved on to milk substitutes soon enough, thankfully!

Marley showed improvement. She was perkier than before and actually did some eating and drinking. The tail-wagging partly gave it away. Compared to the obvious signs of withdrawal from her mom just before, this was a good sign. But Erika couldn’t just feed Marley’s problems away. If only it were that simple.

Pigs are a lot more intelligent than people realize, and Marley is no exception. They’re about as smart as dogs and need just as much love, socialization, and comfort.

They can get depressed too, which did happen with Marley. As easy as feeding her indoors was, what Marley desperately needed was a friend.

Good news, a friend was on the way!

When Marley was picked up at a sanctuary in Florida, she had a lot of company waiting for her. Donkeys, cattle, and a whole lot of other pigs all roamed this 400 acre stretch of land. Sounds like the perfect place for a little piggy undergoing rehabilitation.

I guess it was time for her to go wee-wee-wee all the way home!

And on their way to the same farm were Jason and Eli. Jason was a rescue worker as well, and Eli was a young calf who he’d rescued from a dairy farm. Being a male who couldn’t produce milk, Eli would’ve been doomed to get slaughtered for meat had Jason not rescued him.

And with two rescued baby farm animals, the logical next step was to make them meet. It’s just what both of them needed!

Both orphaned animals hadn’t seen the grass in far too long. That won’t do now, will it? It’s time they knew what making friends were like.

Like it was their first day of school, Marley and Eli’s meeting had a pretty big audience. The orphaned piglet and her new friend clearly had a blast playing and frolicking in the hundreds of acres of grass and pastures.

Eli in particular seemed too happy to even notice his original rescuer saying goodbye. Sounds bittersweet, but it’s a good thing in this case if you think about it!

Marley and Eli came so far and endured so much, only to find a best friend in each other.

It goes to show that you can have all the food and shelter you need, but still feel incomplete and lonely without someone to call a friend. So be kind and friendly as much as you can, because you’ll never know who might need it!

Watch Eli and Marley’s journey down below, and please don’t forget to share this article!

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Source: [The Dodo, PBS Nature]