Four donkeys, two miniature horses, six ducks, and two dogs, of Young's Funny Farm in Berwick, received a lot of immediate attention and smiles from many local Tamaqua residents, business owners, and hundreds of passersby as they were slowly walked through downtown Tamaqua on both sides of West Broad Street last week.

Their visit was a special community treat organized and sponsored by the Tamaqua Volunteers community initiative group to give a couple hours of unexpected enjoyment and laughter to various Tamaqua community non-profit organizations, businesses, care centers, and the St. Jerome Regional School.Some of these included the Tamaqua Rotary Club, Tamaqua Salvation Army, Tamaqua Area Adult Day Care Center, Tamaqua Child Development Center Inc., Little Dreamers Learning Center, Salvation Army Older and Bolder Senior Group, Senator Argall's Office, St. Jerome Regional School, and many others. Some of the animals were even dressed in comical attire, like "Henry" the donkey, who wore a clown's wig. All the animals are tamed, raised, and transported by Neil and Yvonne Young, who are the owners of their Young's Funny Farm.Most of their comfort animals were rescued from abusive or uncaring owners. Young's Funny Farm specializes in animal assisted therapy and both Neil and Yvonne Young are pet partners with the main objective of providing and promoting the benefits of animal-assisted therapy and activities, also called pet therapy. They don't charge anything for their appearances.They also promote the Wild Horse and Burro adoption program. The animals are cared for very well and routinely transported to nursing homes, schools, hospitals, care centers, community organizations,and emergency disaster areas to provide needed short-term comfort and love to people that can use it. As of late October, they have already logged over 5,000 miles this year. One of their oldest comfort dogs, Timmy, was the only dog given credentials by the New York Police Department and used primarily for comforting people at ground zero in New York following 9/11.Some of their animals consist of "Henry," a 16 year old small grey jackass/male donkey; "Afro," a 1 year old male Muskovie Mallard mix duck; "Honey bun," a 21 year old jenny/female donkey; "Timmy," an 11 year old male black and white Springer Bassett lab; "Cinderella," a 2 year old female black lab; "Shorty," 30 year old miniature brown horse; "Dorsal," a Needles CA donkey; and "Ruby," a 5 year old donkey.Young's Funny Farm, a non-profit organization, had many special appearances on many local, regional, and national TV shows as well as in various media publications.For more information about Young's Funny Farm, call (570) 752-2896 or visit

www.youngsfunnyfarm.org.