The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Strangers help milk goats stuck in traffic
Desperate farmers on way to California get help in snowy Utah.
Jose Garcia was hauling a load of goats to his California dairy farm when he hit a huge snowstorm as he drove through Utah. Traffic was at a standstill.
He felt panicked when there was no sign of movement on the freeway on the night of March 2. The goats needed to be milked every 12 hours or their udders would become painfully swollen and possibly infected.
“I was right on the 12-hour mark,” said Garcia, 40.
He and his uncle, Bartolo Garcia, had planned to find a freeway rest stop where they could milk the 50 goats Jose Garcia had purchased in Minnesota to add to his herd of 500 in Merced County, California.
“I kept praying the traffic would get going because I knew how uncomfortable the goats were,” he said. “They’re high-producing animals, and they really can’t go much beyond 12 hours without milking. I was getting ready to lace up my boots and milk them in the trailer when things finally started moving.”
They had been stuck in the storm for more than five hours, and Garcia said was relieved when he learned there was a livestock supply store in Stansbury Park, Utah, about an hour’s drive away.
Lisa Fernandez was preparing to close shop for the day at the Tractor Supply Co. store when Garcia rushed in, visibly worried.
“Have you ever milked a goat before?” he asked her, explaining the situation.
The answer was no.
“He said, ‘If you’d like to try, I can show you how,’” recalled Fernandez, assistant manager of the farm supply store.
She agreed to help him, but he still seemed desperate. He had another request.
“He asked if I knew of anyone else who might want to pitch in because all 50 goats needed milking,” she said. “He said he could use any help I could find.”
Fernandez and another manager quickly called some of their employees and asked if they would help. One employee posted a notice on the Lake Point Crew private Facebook page, asking for all available hands.
“My boss is trying to find people to help these farmers for about an hour ... to get these goats through the night,” Tosha Carter posted. “Would anyone be interested in helping?”
Within 30 minutes, about 40 people showed up to help on a chilly night, even though the vast majority never had milked a goat before, Fernandez said.
Garcia showed her and the other volunteers how to milk the goats in the parking lot and get a steady stream going.
Garcia said he was stunned that so many people dropped what they were doing on a cold Saturday night to milk goats for a stranger. “The parking lot was full of people wanting to help,” Garcia said.
By 11:15 p.m., all 50 goats had been milked, and he and his uncle were able to get back on the road to California, he said.
“It would have taken me hours to do this alone,” Garcia said. “They got me out of a huge jam, and I now consider them all friends. I told them to come visit my goat farm in California any time.”