Suzette Hartwell said her mother Margo had asked for her children to look out for residents at the facility she had been at for the last six months of her life.

"Mum said all she wanted once she had passed for us to give back to the place she had enjoyed being in," she said.

More news: Cafes, restaurants and bars in Bendigo enjoy busy weekend

"And after the last two years we've had, we wanted to bring some joy to Mirridong and organised for local petting zoo company Animals2U to come on the weekend."

Puppies, cats, rabbits and so much more made their way around the crowd of residents in the courtyard and Ms Hartway said the feedback she had received from all was positive.

"It honestly brought so many smiles to so many faces," she said.

"Mum would have loved this if she was here so for us to be able to make so many people happy is just so heartwarming."

Other stories:

Animals2U co-owner Jason Peters said they had taken their menagerie of animals to many aged care facilities in the seven years they had been open.

"We used to take our group to facilities in Melbourne, but because of COVID-19 we had to stop," he said.

"I honestly believe animal therapy should be more widely used because it really has such a significant and positive impact on people."

More news: Monash IVF specialist sees spike in Bendigo rainbow couples wanting to start families

He said having the animals at Calvary Mirridong had brought back some treasured memories for a lot of residents.

"A lot of these people would have grown up on farms and having the lambs and goats here was really special for them," he said.

"It's fantastic to see so many happy faces and hear the lovely conversations that were being shared."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: