Six in the morning and someone is banging on the front door in this beautiful remote rural area we call home. Truly, it is cause for concern. Some would grab their gun and shoot first before the possibility of being attacked by a wild mountain man or a gnarly and hungry eight-foot bear.
I chose to look out the window first to see what the noise was about. We had been a bit edgy lately as the nearest neighbor had shot and killed one of his "pet" goats only yesterday. Besides the loud noise of illegal gunfire, the violence was unexpected. It was very disturbing.
I looked out the window, saw the source, and called for Ana to join me at the door. We opened the door and a frightened beast lowered her head and charged past us and headed for the back of the couch. The smell of fear pushed its way in through the door. Now there was a beautiful miniature goat hiding behind the sofa! And she wasn't coming out anytime soon.
(Above) Painting of “Christmas” by Phil & Anastasia
Drug cartel people infest this area, mostly because it is a good place to hide from the law. They have money and fancy trucks. They own houses but seem to move around regularly so that different people live in the houses for short periods of time. Burner phones and Modelo beer cans litter the landscape. The smell of skunk weed and charred meat fills the air almost daily. You learn to live with it. They don't want trouble or any kind of attention, so they tend not to interact with neighbors.
The neighbors, part of a drug cartel, had two little goats tied to the corner of their house. At first, we thought they were pets for the children. But the truth eventually surfaced. One was to be a Thanksgiving meal and the other a
Christmas bar-b-que.
"Christmas" had witnessed "Thanksgiving" being shot in the head. The two goats were standing next to each other at the time and "Christmas" still had blood splattered stains on her fur. She had been traumatised by the event and during the night, chewed her way thru the rope she was tied with. It was still dangling from her neck as she hid behind our sofa.
We decided not to tell the neighbors that their goat had come to our house, and we watched to see if they would look for her. But they were eating their freshly bar-b-qued "Thanksgiving" goat and were perfectly happy getting drunk and stoned in their front yard. They never did look for "Christmas".
(Above) Crissy with her companion & protector, the 250-lb Boer Goat, “Bunny”
That is the story of how Christmas came to the Rescue Center. She is a beautiful creature and fits right in with the other goats here. When she finally emerged from the back of the sofa (leaving piles of little poop trinkets) we became good friends. She was never tied up again and we moved her to the Rescue Center pasture with the other goats. The tiny thing even found a companion and protector in her new home. A happy ending to a potentially violent ending.
Its always interesting to read your animal accounts. I'm somewhat distracted now for a more detailed response. Natalia is in the hopital for delicate spine surgery.