| Dear Sue Thank you for your enquiry. I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm but there several factors that you also need to think about before you go and buy a pet goat. A goat is not a suitable animal to be kept as a house pet. The most stressful thing you can do to a goat is take it away from other goats, hence you need to keep a minimum of two. They need to be kept outside on grass with others of their own kind and securely fenced in. An old Wendy House makes an ideal goat shelter. A goat could live for 12 years so, are you able to make that kind of commitment to your animal ? Apart from sheep, goats are the most labour intensive farm animal you could think of keeping. They need annual vaccination, regular worming and occasional foot trimming. You will have to feed your goats daily throughout the year. You will need to store straw, hay and goat food. You will be lucky if you can find a local vet who is a farm animal expert. Many vets these days only deal with domestic pets. It will possibly cost you £50 to call a vet to your house and that is before he provides any treatment which you will also have to pay for. Finally, you will not be able to keep any cloven footed animal unless you have an agricultural holding number which you get from the Ministry (DEFRA). You might also find that you need the approval of the Council and the good will of your neighbours before you can think of applying to DEFRA for a holding number. Once you have been given a holding number and you have your goats, you will not be able to move them off your property without a movement licence; not even for a walk. I hope I haven't destroyed your obvious enthusiasm for animals but, for the animals' sake, one has to face facts and make decisions with the head and not the heart and any such decisions must be based on what is best for the animal and not just what would be nice for you. |