Not to bend the rules, but does anyone her do goats as well?

[marymary]

We have recently adopted an adult pair of fainting goats, an absolutely love them. We were snitched on though by an un-neighborly neighbor (quiet goats that have never gotten out...someone just had a vendetta out for us) and we are now going through a process of getting a petition signed in our town to allow us, and people who want to do the same, to keep goats in the backyard. Our current ordinance, drafted in 1991, requires 1 acre per animal, not including a 15 ft perimeter, to keep all livestock, regardless of breed. Has anyone else dealt with this in other towns. Sorry for not talking about chickens, believe me, I will. We have 40 chickens, and we LOVE them. We also LOVE our goats, and want to change the system.
I met the mayor the other night, and he was supportive, and felt like if we could get 1000 signatures, we would have a rocking case. We are currenty under 100 with a week to go...(we have a 10 day appeal, or we have to relocate the goats).

FYI, or ordinance had such hazy language, that we thought we would be okay to have the goats and refer to them as pets, not livestock. We were incorrect, but it feels like a system that needs to adapt, and so we are really happy to be the ones drafting the petition.

It is on my website, and I would love to have friends back me ont his.

 

[debilorrah]

Hi there! I am asking for this to be moved to appropriate forum so you can get better answers and more feedback!

ETA: WELCOME TO BYC THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH!!!

 

[PotterWatch]

I am not at that point right now, but I sometimes worry that I will be. Our animal ordinance says that we are not allowed to keep any male goats, but makes no mention of female ones. We are interpreting that to mean we may have female goats since they are not specifically prohibited but male goats are. There is nothing we have found in any city codes that require a certain amount of land for hooved animals, but if you call our local humane society, they will tell you that you have to have an acre to keep any animals with hooves.

We have gotten a letter from humane (they enforce animal codes for our city), saying that a neighbor called to report that we have roosters and goats on our property and that we are allowed 14 hens in a confined space, no roosters, and no goats. The letter stated that if they get another complaint within six months, that they will send an animal officer out to our property. We don't have any roosters (never have), and we have less than 14 layers (I don't count the meat birds since they are here for such a short amount of time) that are confined to a coop/run area; and I disagree with the part that says we can't have goats. We have, at this point, decided not to respond to the letter at all. We are hoping there won't be any more complaints within the 6 month period, but if there are, we will deal with the goat issue at that time, citing our code that makes no mention of acreage or female goats.

I wish I had some advice for you, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone in your fight to keep your goats. We will fight if it comes down to it, but I'm hoping it won't. Please keep us updated on the outcome of your dilemma.

 

[crafty2002]

I am not sure how your town or city is but the best way to get signatures is to type up a paper stateing the cause, and copied off and talk to the owner or workers at all the 7-11/FastMart stores around or even all the the town/city and ask them if you can leave several copies of the paper and ask them to try to get regular customers to have their family and friends to sign them and bring them back the next time they come in.
Not the same thing but we had two very sweet children killed at a very dangerous intersection and got names up wanting a stop light put there.
Over 4,000 names in less than 2 weeks in a city of 50,000 +/- people.
Good luck and fight it all the way, except for the roosters.
I bought 50 of them and was so glad when we ate the last one. Never again. I think they had keys to the lock so they could break out and set under my window at 2-3 AM every morning, LOL.
Good luck with it.
Dennis

 

[danielnv]

I am curious if your codes permit pot bellied pigs? If so, it seems to me that mini goats aren't much different and that should boost your case.

Have you checked to see what the legal definition of livestock is? I don't see how a fainting goat can be considered livestock, after reading about them at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fainting_goat
Apparently they are classified as a meat goat because they aren't a dairy breed, but yet no one would raise them for meat because they are rare. Perhaps you could argue that their only utility is as a pet?

Assuming your fainting goat is as tame and friendly as the Nigerians I just got, you could take him to a local park on a leash and get people to sign your petition when they see he is pet-sized and calm.

I am hoping I don't run into the same issues with my goats I got for milk. If I do, I will say that I am babysitting them for a friend that is in the hospital--that way the length of time is indefinite, and if I do get harrassed again, I can say that I just got the goats back again, temporarily, because my friend is sick again. I haven't actually checked my zoning, because I didn't really know where to look since I am in a small township with nothing I could find online, and I don't want to raise any red flags. I can't buy raw milk in my state, so now I get it fresh at home.

 

[Chirpy]

I can't help with your zoning issue other than to say that you need (and I'm sure do) to keep your property cleaned up so there's never much if any smell and so people can't see a poop pile anywhere. Find people who support you and get them to sign a petition, as already stated above. Talk to your neighbors and educate them on 'real' life with goats; so many people have completely false ideas about them.

I do want you to know that we love to talk goats here just like chickens. And, Nifty is actually working on a backyardgoat site - it may just be a while before he can get it up and running.

Best wishes.

 

[Indiana hens]

WOW would they be mad here! GOats everywhere on here! You are in the right Backyard! This backyard is big enough for any animal. If you keep them indoors they shouldn't complain! although you would need new clothes, and curtains, and you have to read the newspaper fast, and watch out for book chewing and you can't leave breakables on the table or counters. Here is a picture of our 2 kittens

 

[cheapcheap_jeepjeep]

Quote:

what cute kittens you have and I love the diaper.

 

[marymary]

Thanks for all of the advice. We have decided that next week, when the weather is nice, we will be taking our sweet girl to the farmer's market to get signatures. I am going to make her a coat that says "I'm a perfect pet" or Goats make great pets".

 

[danielnv]

Quote:
OK, here's a few more ideas:

"Perfect for the city."
"Tamer than my cat."
"Sweeter than my dog"
"More spoiled than my husband"