Someone may have taken baby goat snuggles too far.
The owners of Yellow Point Farms south of Nanaimo allege that one of their baby goats, just 12 days old, was stolen on Saturday during a baby goat snuggles program at their farm.
āWe didnāt want to believe that,ā said Rebecca Dault. āWe were like, thereās no way someone would steal a goat. But after looking for hours and hours, there really is no other explanation. Thereās no sign of him. There couldnāt have been predators because there was so many people.ā
The is exactly what it sounds like, a chance to āhold and snuggle the baby goats to heartās content.ā
Rebecca and Justin Dault said Saturdayās baby goat snuggles was one of their most well-attended yet, with about 50 people there, mostly families, between 1-3 p.m. Many of those who attended have sent photos to help the Daults pin down the time the goat could have been taken, perhaps 1:30-2 p.m.
Justin said he looked for four hours yesterday and throughout the day today.
āItās kind of like kidnapping. We feel violated. We couldnāt even sleep last night over it,ā he said.
He said that at the baby goat snuggling and goat yoga programs, visitors to the farm commonly joke about ākid-napping.ā
āPeople always joke about, āoh, Iām taking this goat homeā or āIām keeping this goatā and fake like theyāre smuggling one out,ā he said. āItās all fun and jokes, but someone took it too far and actually did.ā
He said heās considering setting up a security camera in future, but the couple arenāt even certain they want to continue with the snuggle program.
āIts mom is crying. Sheās been crying ever since; sheās looking for him, and if he was stuck somewhere, heād be crying too,ā Rebecca said.
She said the photos donāt quite get across how small the baby goat is; she estimates five pounds. The allegedly stolen goat has āvery rare colouring,ā Rebecca said, gold with āmoonspotsā and blue eyes. She said with such distinctive colouring, no one will be able to sell the goat. She said the baby goat needs its mamaās milk.
āUnless someone was well-versed in raising goats and bought powdered goat milk replacer or something, itās not going to survive. Itās not weaned. Itās only 12 days old. It needs it till eight weeks. Itās going to have to be force-fed to learn a bottle,ā she said. āItās pretty tough for it to survive without that, or a very experienced goat owner.ā
The farm owners say they wonāt ask any questions if someone returns the goat to their front pasture.
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