Have You Seen These Goats?
By Douglas Hoffacker
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4)- Police officers in Wheat Ridge are teaming up with farmers to search for five goats that are missing. The goats are property of 5 Fridges Farm, located near 38th Avenue and Pierce Street.
The goats' owner, Amanda Weaver, says someone opened the gate to their grazing area about a mile away from the farm at 44th and Kipling on Sunday night and they got away.
"Any animals that live with you become part of your family even if they live outside all the time," said Weaver. "You panic and there were tears."
The goats are all males, and are named Wendell, Yoda, Creampuff, Darryl and his other brother Darryl. (Yes, it's what you think.) The two named Darryl are brothers.
Police and the owner aren't sure if someone took them or just let them loose.
"You really have to try hard to herd a herd into a truck and drive off," said Weaver. "That's almost more time and labor than it is selling the goats."
PLEASE HELP! The gate was opened last night to the Kipling Trailhead grazing area. 5 full-size goats (2brown 1 white 2...
Posted by 5 Fridges Farm on Monday, December 31, 2018
"When I realized they weren't there, I looked at the gate and the gate was propped open and it was clear a human had opened the gate form the hinge side," said Weaver.
Help in finding the goats has been coming from volunteers, animal control officials and even the police.
"People have just... the outpouring of support has just been amazing," said Weaver.
The goats have been used in the summer to graze on overgrown grasses and noxious weeds. The City of Wheat Ridge enlisted their help when other methods wouldn't cut it.
"We joke around, these are city workers," said Weaver. "They actually graze on public spaces around Wheat Ridge mostly in the summer for invasive weeds."
"It is tough for mowers to get in some spots and spraying wasn't an option," Margaret Paget, Forestry and Open Spaces Supervisor for the City of Wheat Ridge, told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann in the summer of 2017.
"I'm worried about the goats, if they're okay in the cold, if they're out there," said Weaver. "I would just really like them to come home, they're my pets and I miss them."
If you have any information about the goats whereabouts, you're asked to call the Wheat Ridge Police Department at 303 237-2220.