Move over cats and dogs, there’s a new pet in town all the kids want for Christmas: miniature cows.
Allie Sine, a Missouri rancher who owns Mini Moos LLC, has garnered attention for miniature cows, which she described to The New York Times as being “like golden retriever dogs.”
“They’re like golden retriever dogs,” Sine told the outlet. “You can just walk out there and love all over them.”
Sine, who has earned more than 742,000 followers on her TikTok page, posts videos of the miniature cows on her farm. Her cows range in price from $8,000 to $20,000.
Miniature cows, also called teacup mini cows, are usually between 36 to 48 inches tall and can weigh anywhere from under 500 pounds to 800 pounds.
For people who have limited farmland space or are new to raising livestock, miniature cows can be more ideal. Their gentle and tamer nature makes them safer for families with children. They end up causing less damage to fencing, and save you money on feed, according to the Broadway Family Farms website.
This Christmas season, Sine said she’s sold more than 15 miniature cows. One animal, described as being a brown miniature heifer, cost roughly $10,000 and was headed to another part of Missouri.
“At Christmastime it really picks up,” Sine explained. “Usually, the wife has been wanting one and the husband comes around to it.”
Alyssa Rorah, 30, a rancher in Iowa has also garnered attention on TikTok with her videos of the miniature cows. Rorah told the outlet the cows like to “run around and play with you.”
“I get videos all the time from families who have their kids running around in the backyard and their cows are playing with the kids,” Rorah told the outlet.
While some people reportedly like to keep them inside, Sine and Rorah warned against keeping them indoors, especially allowing them in your bed.