While 15-year-old Mitchell Miner and his trusty cow Audri did not win the top prize at the Iowa State Fair’s youth dairy cattle show, they did win the hearts of internet users everywhere after a photo of them went viral.

Mitchell and Audri had worked incredibly hard to win, but they still came in fifth place out of seven contestants. For three days in a row, they had been getting up at 3am to get ready to compete, which left them exhausted. That’s why they ended up taking a nap together, and when a photo was taken of them sleeping, it quickly went viral.

Mitchell and Audri had become very close in the two months that they were preparing for the competition.

It was Mitchell’s dad Jeremy who snapped the photo of the pair sleeping and posted it to the internet.

“Our son Mitchell and his heifer after showing yesterday,” he wrote alongside the image. Social media users can’t get enough of the cute photo!

Mitchell told reporters afterwards that he is not sure how he became so close to Audri.

“She likes to lay down quite a bit,” Mitchell said. ” I don’t really understand the bond with my animal either. She just enjoys my company.”

His mother Laura, however, is not surprised by their bond.

“I think it’s just when you spend that much time with them, they get really comfortable with you,” she said.

Some people online criticized the photo, questioning the cow’s fate and what her life would be back at the dairy farm.

Mitchell’s father spoke out in a Facebook comment and noted the love and care it takes to be a farmer and raise animals stating,

“Livestock is raised with more blood, sweat, tears than you will ever understand unless you choose to make your living from it. Livestock are raised with their well-being, being of the utmost Importance. Their health, comfort & well-being take precedence over our own. … That bond is different because we know that in the end, these animals are here for a purpose, food. Whether it’s milk or meat, we know that some day, they will fill hungry bellies. It’s never been about farmers not caring about animals. Farmers know that this is the reality of raising livestock. To say my son, or my family don’t know what’s going to happen to this heifer couldn’t be farther from the truth. The problem today is that fewer & fewer people don’t know where there food comes from, nor are they willing to accept the way that food gets to their table because nobody is willing to teach them this reality.”

Find out more about them in the video below.