Caylei Wright feeds Nessie the cow at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is a contestant in the Americas Fav Pet online competition. Nessie, who is blind, was rescued by the Wright family.

Nessie the cow eats some hay at the Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is blind and was rescued from an abandoned farm, along with her seeing-eye goat, Faith.

Nessie the cow looks close into the camera at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is a contestant in the America’s Fav Pet competition. Online voting continues through September.

Tater the pig greets visitors at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Tater was found by the Wright family wandering down the road, so the pig was added to the other rescued animals on the Wright Way Farm.

Caylei Wright feeds Nessie the cow at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is a contestant in the Americas Fav Pet online competition. Nessie, who is blind, was rescued by the Wright family.

Nessie the cow eats some hay at the Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is blind and was rescued from an abandoned farm, along with her seeing-eye goat, Faith.

Nessie the cow looks close into the camera at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Nessie is a contestant in the America’s Fav Pet competition. Online voting continues through September.

Tater the pig greets visitors at Wright Way Farm in Beloit. Tater was found by the Wright family wandering down the road, so the pig was added to the other rescued animals on the Wright Way Farm.

BELOIT—It was just in the last couple of years that Caylei Wright and her father, Denny Wright, decided they wanted to start rescuing farm animals at their family farm in Beloit.

They started by rescuing a black pig named Tater who was found wandering down the road from the Wright Way organic vegetable farm. Then, the father-daughter duo learned of a nearby abandoned farm that had a blind cow and her seeing-eye goat companion. So in February the Wrights immediately rescued the cow, Nessie, and her companion, Faith, and moved them to the Wright Way farm.

Now, Nessie is gaining national attention as a contestant in the America’s Fav Pet competition. Voting is done online and Nessie is among the most popular pets in the competition.

It took Nessie about a month or so, but she was able to adjust to her new home at the farm and she now moves around her pen like she’s lived there for years. Nessie is a 1,200-pound Jersey cow who eats about 80 pounds of hay a day.

“We have two types of hay and there’s one that’s more rich,” Caylei said. “If my dad doesn’t mix them together she will just eat the rich one and leave the other.”

The 5-year-old Nessie was almost immediately trusting of her new owner, Denny, and seems to not realize he’s not a cow as well when she plays with him in her pen. The farm currently has multiple animals including Nessie the cow, Faith the goat, Tater the pig, a rescue rooster, three dogs and five cats, as well as some chickens.

Caylei was on Facebook one day when she saw an advertisement for the America’s Fav Pet competition. The competition this year was the first time farm animals have been allowing to be entered—not just dogs or cats. Caylei decided to submit Nessie to the competition to raise awareness on rescue farm animals. Since entering the competition, Nessie hasn’t been below third place in her group in the online voting.

Nessie was in first place for around a week and a half in her group. The competition goes until the end of September for her specific group and if she’s in first place at the end of September then she will go against all first place winners in the whole competition, she said.

“I’m really hoping she can shed some light in the competition for rescue farm animals that deserve a chance,” Caylei said. “People can vote for free once a day. They can verify themselves through Facebook. You can buy votes which we’re not promoting as much, but it is for a good cause the proceeds go to Paws the Rescue Foundation.”

If Nessie ends up the ultimate winner, there is a $10,000 grand prize and a two-page spread in InTouch Magazine. If Nessie wins, Caylei wants to expand her pen so she has more room to roam and get her a cow brush that they can put on the side of the barn and Nessie can rub up against it to give herself a massage.

Caylei adds that many people may be afraid of rescuing animals if they’ve been abused, and it takes time but has been worth it for them.

“With Nessie, luckily she came around pretty fast,” she said. “She just loves—she’s a big lover. There’s no better place for these guys to be than an organic vegetable farm. What a stroke of luck for them. They can eat literally anything they want out here.”

In the future more rescue animals may find a home at the Wright Way farm, but Denny says it has to be the right fit.

“Maybe a miniature horse or something like that, but it all depends,” Denny said. “I don’t go looking for them. They find me when it’s right.”

People can vote for the pets and find more information on the competition at americasfavpet.com.

Kirby and Tonya Bivans local business, Old School Farmstead Lavender Field & Emporium, has been a hit at local markets and the couple hopes to expand the business with more products and adding onto their farm acreage.

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