A SERENDIPITOUS connection with local animal lovers has delivered 'Snowy' the goat a much-needed new home.
The pure white male goat had been living with a mate in a Vincent Road paddock where impounded goats are often held, and that's where he was noticed by local couple Alice Lindsay and Owen Butler.
Owen, 79, and Alice, 80, are both drawn from farming backgrounds, and a passion for animals has been a hallmark of their 38-year union.
They are particularly fond of goats, having spent time travelling in the NSW and Queensland outback, where they were able to see the animals living in the wild.
"They were so beautiful, the way they'd get up on their hind legs to get the leaves off the trees," Alice recalled.
Latest Stories
"We're always looking out for goats - they play and do all sorts of things that amuse you.
"We were given a little goat about six years ago and had to bottle-feed her, and she was just lovely.
"Goats have just got a nature of their own - they look in your eyes and can tell you what they need, and they're just so loving, they've always been our passion."
From that first little bottle-fed goat, the couple's herd had grown to eight rescued from abandonment or abattoirs, and cared for on a property in Oxley Flats, which Owen visits twice a day to feed and spend time with them.
In between these visits, Owen had been keeping an eye on the Vincent Road goats, and a few months ago, noticed that one of them had overgrown hooves.
While he couldn't assist, due to high fences and padlocked gates around the space and not knowing who the goats belonged to, Owen grew concerned as the goat's feet worsened to the point where it was reluctant to move, and was limping.
Alice stepped in and began weekly calls to the RSPCA to report the neglected goat and his overgrown hooves.
"I suppose they thought I was a nagger, but the goat couldn't do anything for himself, and someone had to help him," she said.
"You'd have to be horrible not to help a helpless little animal that can't talk for himself.
"I felt like I was a whinger, but sometimes you've got to be a squeaky wheel to get things done.
"The other goat disappeared and nobody seemed to know what happened to him, so the goat with bad feet - Owen called him 'Snowy' - was left on his own, and Owen took to feeding him twice a day.
"Goats are herd animals, they need a companion, and Snowy was crying his eyes out being alone, so I made a few more calls to the RSPCA.
"Then, when Owen was feeding him last week, he was told that the goat had come into council's possession, and they asked whether he'd like to adopt it."
Owen snapped up the offer, and has since been caring for Snowy, and preparing him to join his other eight goats on the well-kept Oxley Flats property.
"He's had him out there to get him used to the other goats through the fences," Alice said.
"Owen trimmed his hooves up, and he can now walk on his own, and is enjoying his new home."
Leah Bell, who runs the Free Spirits Farm Sanctuary at Glenrowan, first came into contact with Alice and Owen after they read a story about her in the Wangaratta Chronicle.
"Now, she's a very dear friend, and we go and see her every Saturday and visit the animals," Alice said.
She said Leah had provided the couple with great support as they attempted to improve Snowy's life - though Leah said the support was entirely mutual, with Alice and Owen generously assisting her work.
Leah said the outcome for Snowy showed "we are never too old to make a difference, and never too old to rescue".
"I didn't think this would be the outcome for Snowy; it's always rare with farm animals to get a good outcome," she said.
"Alice did a great job of calling the RSPCA again and again, and I touched base with them every week about how it was going.
"It's so refreshing to see their care for animals, and I wish there were more people like them."
Leah is not taking on any more animals due to a lack of space at her Glenrowan sanctuary, where tasks including regular bottle-feeding of lambs are scheduled around her work as an occupational therapist.
However, she said anyone wishing to support the not-for-profit sanctuary, and assist animals like Snowy, was welcome to contact her on 0439 351 368.
