Sanctuary loses beloved goat

by Sandy Graham and Wayne Geiger

June 6, 2006

Stucky P. Goat and Mel the goose.

Stucky P. Goat and Mel the goose

The pygmy goats are shy little creatures who run in a herd and manage to finagle their way into all parts of the sanctuary.

They came to the sanctuary four years ago. One adult male, four adult females and two kids were being neglected by an elderly person.

One of the kids had an untreated eye injury; the adults were breeding uncontrollably, and the lack of proper fencing allowed them all to make frequent trips out into the road seeking greener grazing.

With a little persuasion, we were able to take the “family” to the Sanctuary. It turned out the adult females were pregnant when we received them, and the next spring, they gave birth, quickly adding five more kids to the family.

One of the mothers gave birth to a little girl. During the following months, she was able to raise her little girl in peace, without fear of being neglected.

Recently, however, she had been exhibiting some strange behaviors. She seemed too disoriented and confused. This condition had been going on for a long period of time, but an accurate diagnosis by a veterinarian could not be determined. With the help of an assistant goose (yes, a goose) who was always by her side and by extra care from us, she did pretty well most of the time.

Once during a work party, we spent some tense minutes untangling her when she squeezed herself between the barn and the outside chicken coops. Her horns were caught in the fencing, and she bleated her distress with the goose standing close by honking as loudly as possible. We released her and calmed her down.

On the same day, she started wandering around getting stuck in small places as if she was confused.

By this time, we had named her Stucky P. Goat, and Mel became her seeing-eye goose.

One morning she took a turn for the worse. Wayne took her to the veterinarian. Once again, an accurate diagnosis was not determined. This time, she stayed at the vet clinic for observation and was mildly tranquilized to relieve any anxiety or pain. Sadly, the veterinarian called the next morning to say she had died during the night. An autopsy later revealed a brain tumor.

She died pain free and well looked after by all.