But while Willie the pig became well-known when he was on the loose for several months, the brown and white goat got a taste of freedom for only a few hours Wednesday.
Animal control officers responded to the 1900 block of Southeast 14th Street around 8:30 a.m. on a report of a goat at large. Finding nothing in the area, they left but then returned just after 10 a.m.
This time animal control officer Tina Updegrove spotted the floppy-eared goat.
“As soon as it saw me, the thing just jetted into traffic,” Updegrove said. “There were horns blaring.”
The goat ran into a nearby car dealership lot, which was, fortunately, fenced in.
The owner shut the gates and Updegrove, with the help of other officers and nearby business owners and employees, chased the goat back and forth across the property.
“We tried to corner her, but she was having none of it,” Updegrove said. “Tranquilizing her was the next best thing. She was really stressing, so we wanted to get her back here safely.”
Updegrove fired a dart tipped with a combination of xylazine hydrochloride and ketamine, drugs that in combination have been proved to be safe and induce short periods of surgical anesthesia.
Within a few minutes, the goat was down. Updegrove loaded the animal into a truck and took her back to the animal control building.
The goat is up and about now and appears healthy and uninjured.
Authorities aren’t sure where the goat came from yet.
Much like Willie, a pot-bellied pig who was on the loose on Des Moines’ east side for several months, the owners may be wary of receiving citations. Pygmy goats are allowed in the city of Des Moines, but Boer goats aren’t.
And any goat running along Southeast 14th Street is generally frowned upon.
Police still want the owners to come forward.
“We’re asking the owner to come forward to claim the goat,” Des Moines Chief Humane Officer Sgt. James Butler said. “And explain why the goat was on the lam as long as it was.”
(Des Moines Register - Oct 24, 2013)
Earlier:
They darted that goat and this makes me wonder why wildlife officers shoot animals rather than try something like this?
ReplyDeleteGo to any state's wildlife page and you'll see that hunting is their bread and butter. The conservation part of the job is merely to provide a habitat for animals that can be hunted and killed.
DeleteWildlife rehabilitators love animals. Wildlife officials do not.
http://fourleggedfriendsandenemies.blogspot.com/2012/11/wyoming-coyote-trapper-defends-graphic.html