A Saskatoon man recently proposed to his now fiancee at the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary cow enclosure in Aldergrove.
Katie Thompson and her soon-to-be-husband Brett Hamilton, planned a visit to the Lower Mainland animal sanctuary last week.
Farm co-founder Diane Marsh was able to capture on camera the moment it all went down.
During a private tour led by Happy Herd volunteers, Hamilton got down on one knee to propose, and “as he did one of the cows was trying to knock him over,” retold Marsh.
“They were just being playful,” she chuckled.
As Hamilton remembers, the moment he saw his girlfriend smiling as she pet the cows, he decided in a split-second that it was “the perfect spot” and time to pop the question.
When asked about the couple, Marsh teased that “Katie’s a vegan and Brett well… he’s working on it.”
He admitted the cows helped him by making him feel “less nervous and at ease” when he asked. Thompson said yes, and it was then and there the couple decided on spending the rest of their lives together.
This is not the first time someone has decided to pop the question among the sanctuary’s cows.
“There’s gotta be something about bovines that brings out the best in guys,” Marsh emphasized.
The farm currently hosts three cows. All were taken in by the farm at either a day or week old as sickly calves.
Currently, the trio “are eating themselves silly” in a neighbour’s field, Marsh told the Aldergrove Star.
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Marsh – a once retired Langley resident – first decided to convert her acreage into an animal sanctuary with her partner Stephen Wiltshire ten years ago.
She thought it would be a small operation with a few abandoned farm animals the couple could look after together. The operation outgrew the couple and now relies upon a long list of volunteers to help care for and run the farm.
On New Year’s Day last year, a White Rock couple got engaged amongst the mooing cows.
“Why the cows? I don’t know. But it’s nice to think that our animals do that for people,” Marsh said.
Cloe Boton and Joe Cullen, both in their thirties, visited the farm as an extended measure of a donation Cullen had made in Boton’s name for her birthday.
Growing up in Saskatoon, he knew Boton had developed a love for farm animals.
After three years of dating and one visit to Happy Herd, Cullen, a Canadian military soldier, bent down on one knee while Cloe cuddled a cow named Sparky.
“I really thought he was just tired at first,” Boton admitted about when Cullen first took a knee.
Little did she know that everyone else at the farm knew, and was in on the surprise.
The proposal turned out to be a “magical moment” for the couple, even as Sparky tried to squeeze his way in between the couple, as Boton cried tears of joy.
The big cow was seeking some more attention, she laughed.
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Though it was their first visit, “we really fell in love with the place,” Boton elaborated.
“We were the only ones at the farm after a huge snowstorm, snow covered the grounds.”
The couple just bought a house in Abbotsford and will continue to volunteer at the farm regularly.
Their wedding is in two weeks time at the Royal New Westminster regiment, where Cullen serves.
The couple is asking for donations to Happy Herd as a part of their wedding gift registry.
“It’s truly my happy place,” Boton said about their ask for donations to the farm.
Marsh was sure to mention also that two of Happy Herd’s volunteers were recently married, in front of the farm’s goats.
“I just love it – it’s so neat,” the co-founder expressed.
During the past two years, two couples have gotten engaged in front of Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary’s three cows. Cloe Boton (right) was one of them, proposed to by Joe Cullen (left) on New Year’s Day last year. (Submitted photo)
Brett Hamilton (left) popped the question to Katie Thompson (right) last week at the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary, amongst the cow enclosure. She said ‘yes.’ (Submitted photo)
Boton was petting the cow Sparky before Cullen decided to ask for her hand in marriage, and the cow tried to intervene. (Submitted photo)
