What’s Got Your Goat?

For some reason or another, people enjoy being pet owners. I certainly do. While most prefer cats and dogs, some folks would rather have snakes, rats, alligators, or spiders. To each his own I guess. Fortunately, there are city ordinances to limit the number of pets allowed in each household. Personally, I think it’s an attempt to prevent the crazy cat ladies out there from hoarding too many kittens…

Yup, that's a cat...

In the neighborhood where I grew up, there was a family who owned two pot-bellied pigs. How do I know? Good question. They would take them for long walks twice a day, every day…

It led me to ask: “Kourteous, if you could have ANY pet, what would it be?” Hmmm…pretty sure I would get a goat! I couldn’t shake the image of taking it for long walks, dressing it up for family photos, and never having to mow the lawn again! It didn’t take long for me to attempt to make this dream a reality.

There happened to be a handful of kids on my soccer team that lived on farms. Lucky me! Unfortunately only one owned goats. It kind of limited the odds of being able to successfully convince this kid’s dad to allow me to purchase one, but it was worth trying.

I approached the farmer after the next soccer game, and started asking questions.

Me: “Word on the street is that you own some goats.”

Farmer: “Yup”

Me: “How much is a goat?”

Farmer: “Bout $35 for a male”

Me: (Handed over the cash) “I will take one male goat please.”

Farmer: (looks at me with raised eyebrows) “This okay with your parents?”

Me: “It was their idea. We all really want a pet goat.”

Farmer: “I will drop it off at your house on Friday.”

Bingo bango bongo. I knew full well that my parents would not be happy about my recent purchase, but thought they could be won over by its cuteness. It was worth a shot.

The farmer showed up with my pet goat on Friday as promised. He wasn’t sure where to leave my goat, and since I was still in school, he called my mom.

She thought it was just a joke when he told her he was at the house and wanted to know where he should tie up our goat. I’m told they the conversation went back and forth – my mom laughing hysterically. Eventually, he flat out told her that I bought a goat, he was seriously at the house, and he really did want to know where he should tie it up.

Come on, you know this guy wants to go for a walk!

I’m sure she wasn’t laughing any more. She told him to keep the goat, and my money.

When I got home, my parents were waiting for me. I was lectured for a while. My dad showed me a highlighted section of the city ordinance that prevents the ownership of livestock within city limits. I was crushed to say the least.

You can imagine how excited I was when I discovered that the Seattle city council approved a measure to allow Seattle homeowners to keep miniature goats as pets. That’s right; I can finally make my dreams come true! I’m glad some people understand.

Lessons learned:

1. If you’re going to purchase a goat without your parent’s knowledge, skip school on the day it is supposed to arrive…
2. Always follow your dreams!