WATCH: A missing therapy goat in Saanich struck up a new friendship which ultimately led to her capture. Ceilidh Millar reports.
Me-Kon Hayes and the Binkadi Community Services team are adding to the fencing of their new goat pen.
“We’re making their area a little more escape proof” said Hayes with a laugh.
It’s a necessary improvement because their two-year-old therapy goat named Genevieve escaped from their property on July 8.
Genevieve, along with her eight-month-old kid, Delilah, and cousin, Georgia, went on part of the adventure together.
“All three of them had actually escaped together,” explained Hayes. “We were able to catch the babies but she was too fast we weren’t able to get her back.”
Last week, Genevieve was spotted along the Patricia Bay Highway near the Keating Cross Road area.
On Friday, a homeowner on East Saanich Road discovered his cat had made an unusual friend.
“There was one house that she kept going back to consistently and was apparently quite fond of the cat there” said Hayes.
The animal rescue group, Reunited Owners with Animals Missing (ROAM), was called in to help capture the 200-pound animal.
“We put a remote camera up and actually captured her going through the driveway and into this bush area,” explained Terry Mah from ROAM.
After unsuccessfully trying to entice the goat into a dog trap with some food, they knew they needed a different approach.
“That’s when we picked up the baby goat Sunday afternoon,” said Mah. “We had her trucked in, in a dog crate and we put her in the middle of the trap.”
The ROAM team watched from the backyard tree house for several hours each day until Sunday afternoon, when Genevieve heard the call from her young and moved into the right position so they could drop the net.
The entire capture was caught on camera.
“This was our first missing goat and hopefully our last missing goat” explained Mah with a laugh.
Genevieve is now safely home with her family and her hot pink collar is still intact.
“It was a big relief to get her back” said Hayes.
Ceilidh Millar
