{"id":112980,"date":"2026-02-13T11:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112980\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:23:14","slug":"colorado-animal-sanctuary-opens-up-kissing-booth-as-a-chance-to-interact-with-animals-and-reduce-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112980\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado animal sanctuary opens up kissing booth as a chance to interact with animals and reduce stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

People lined up in a barn on a recent Sunday to celebrate love and nature by kissing a cow.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a free event that Lanette Cook, who works at the Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, just 30 minutes north of Denver in Weld County, said gives the cow \u2014 named Maybell \u2014 social interaction and also shares the sanctuary\u2019s mission and Maybell\u2019s love with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsAva Kian feeds Maybell the cow at her kissing booth at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Lesli Tanski was one of the many people who pre-registered for the event just outside of Erie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been kind of a mess with everything going on in the world, and just being around animals is really soothing,\u201d Tanski said as she waited in line for her turn with the 11-year-old brown cow with a little black on her face and a stripe of white around her muzzle.<\/p>\n

She and her husband, Dustin Tanski, said that spending time with Maybell was needed, considering current events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t want to stress out that it’s 68 degrees in February. They don’t. They’re just like, \u2018Whatever. I’m getting treats and getting kissed,\u2019\u201d Dustin said. \u201cThey’ve been around for a long time and managed to be in harmony. And we just can’t seem to figure it out, so maybe we could take some cues from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsLanette Cook, education and engagement manager at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary, smiles as she talks about her experience at the sanctuary in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.A cow named Maybell<\/p>\n

Staff members at the sanctuary describe Maybell, a Jersey cow, as sweet and nurturing. She came to Luvin Arms about three years ago after spending the majority of her life on a farm as a bell cow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Mabel has always been such a smoocher,\u201d said Aoife Phillips, who works at the sanctuary. \u201cShe will just walk up to people and give you a full bath just like she does to all the other cows in the herd.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsPeople gather in a stable at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary to meet Maybell the cow at her kissing booth in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all temperament. There\u2019s also some training involved. Maybell\u2019s been trained using what\u2019s called \u201cclicker play\u201d to position herself behind the kissing booth.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the residents here come from some inhumane situations, so they’ve learned to fear people,\u201d said Jamie Clay Jones, who works with the animals. \u201cThe enrichment, it helps them kind of form a new association with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsMarissa Fuhrmeister, volunteer lead at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary, feeds treats to Maybell the Cow at her kissing booth in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsRosie, 8, hugs Maybell the cow at her kissing booth at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. A unique experience<\/p>\n

Families, friends and young children all waited in line for their turn. The novelty of the event was a hot topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow often do I get a chance to do this? Not very,\u201d Aaron Watenmaker said.<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsFrom back, Emily Perrotto, her husband Joe, and son, William, feed treats to Maybell the cow at her kissing booth at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Another family, all wearing Patriots jerseys, waited patiently, too. On this Super Bowl Sunday, the family carved out time to spend with Maybell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to kiss the cow. I’m not kidding,\u201d Joe Perrotto said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just wonderful to connect with nature and animals, and it just quiets the rest of the world,\u201d Emily Perrotto said.<\/p>\n

\"\"McKenzie Lange\/CPR NewsA woman pets Maybell the cow at her kissing booth at Luvin\u2019 Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People lined up in a barn on a recent Sunday to celebrate love and nature by kissing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11338,5922,2600,7250,136,138,137,1680],"class_list":{"0":"post-112980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-animal-rescue","9":"tag-animal-shelter","10":"tag-animals","11":"tag-colorado-news","12":"tag-erie","13":"tag-erie-headlines","14":"tag-erie-news","15":"tag-weld-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}