Goat learns to live on front knees
Many weird and wonderful animals have found a home at the South Waikato SPCA and Hairy the goat is one of them.
SPCA manager Lorna Hutchinson met Hairy two years ago.
The ‘‘ hairy little bugger’’ received the name from his shaggy look.
Neighbours of a Putaruru farm made a complaint about a goat walking up and down the road on his knees.
‘‘The owners were moving off the farm and he said he was going to shoot him,’’ she said.
But Hutchinson believed it was ‘‘cruel’’ to shoot him just because he could not walk properly.
A trip to the veterinarians revealed his long toe nails were preventing him from standing.
‘‘You can imagine trying to stand on that [as a goat],’’ she said.
But the damage had already been done from walking on his knees and he continues to do the same.
The hardy goat has outlived expectations.
‘‘ He covers a lot of ground actually,’’ she said.
Hutchinson described him as loveable and inoffensive and his patience during feeding time has gained him the title of an ‘‘old gentleman’’.
But Hairy is not the only unique animal on the Tokoroa farm.
An alpaca, geese, chickens and even peacocks have all made one big happy family.
There was even a morepork which was delivered in a Burger King bag.