This week, staff at the Cape Wildlife Center in Massachusetts noticed someone in need of help.
A wild goose named Arnold, who lives on a pond nearby, was seen having trouble walking, apparently due to a hurt foot. Staff decided to admit the bird into their wildlife hospital for treatment.
But they weren’t the only ones concerned about Arnold’s wellbeing.
An examination found that Arnold’s foot was indeed injured and would require surgery to fix. His sudden absence from the pond, however, didn’t go unnoticed.
Arnold, it turns out, has a girlfriend — a lifelong mate who’s been with him for years. And she wasn’t about to deny him her moral support in his time of greatest need.
“As we prepared to sedate Arnold and get him ready for surgery, we heard a faint tapping at the clinic door,” staff at the center wrote. “We turned to see that his mate had waddled up onto the porch and was attempting to break into our clinic! She had somehow located him …”
Fortunately, the surgery on Arnold’s foot was a success. His girlfriend demanded nothing less.
“She remained there throughout the entire procedure, watching us work, never moving from the doorway,” staff wrote.
Afterward, they placed Arnold near the door and opened it so the two geese could be together.
“They both seemed much more at ease in each other’s presence,” staff wrote.
Arnold is expected to need a few weeks to fully recover, but that isn’t something he’ll have to face alone. Lest his girlfriend be worried, staff at the clinic plan to let her visiting continue.
“We will do our best to get him back out quickly and will perform bandage changes and treatments in view of the doorway when possible so that his mate can check up on him,” they wrote, adding: “Through sickness and health …”
