Saved by Facebook: How one community came together to save a goat

Facebook is not only a place for children’s birthdays and photos. Last month, in the wilds of western Baltimore County, Facebook helped save a homeless man goat.

Gracie the goat’s social media adventure began in late September, when Windsor Mill residents reported seeing a honey-colored goat in the woods. Upon closer inspection, Gracie was not a recalcitrant animal; she was a Burka – 100 pounds of tendons and muscles, most often grown for meat. It had an auction tag indicating it was intended for a dinner plate. Perhaps she escaped from the auction and ended up in the forest, or the owners abandoned her there because she didn’t sell and they didn’t want to feed her anymore. But no matter how she ended up at Windsor Mill in northwest Baltimore County, she didn’t last long.

Goats are allergic to many common suburban shrubs, such as azaleas and rhododendrons. Cars on Liberty Road could hit her; coyotes or foxes may eat it. Goats also do not like rain and, as a ruminant species, they need adequate hay to stay healthy. Area Facebook pages alerted the larger animal community, and Bob Swensen responded.

Swensen runs the Missing Animal Resource Group; he and his partner Denise Harris have rescued 500 cats, over 1,000 dogs and one pig. But never a goat.

He and a resident left on an ATV to find Gracie, but she decided she would rather hang out in one of the area’s driveways and watch her reflection in the screen door. After a week of trying to trap her, Swensen returned to Facebook and asked: Does anyone here know how to trap a goat?

It turns out that some people have succeeded. Lure her into a trap with poison ivy. Or try strawberry Fig Newtons. Or holes in Dunkin’ Donut. Or, since he likes to look at himself, make the trap reflective. Or find another goat to guide her, as they like to travel in pairs.

Swensen took advice from the audience and almost hit the goat several times, but then something went wrong. One time, a contractor dropped some equipment and scared her. Another time, an animal control officer scared her away deep in the forest. But eventually Debbie Sharp and Joe Campayno of Sparky Hollow Farm posted on Facebook and offered to bring their goat, Dunkin. Gracie was immediately attracted to the handsome Dalmatian-print Dunkin, but he ignored her.

As Swensen documented the rescue attempt on Facebook with videos and photos, readers offered more suggestions. While Dunkin’ distracted Gracie, she buried her head in a bucket of oats.

“It was a clear shot,” Swensen recalled. Joe Campayno grabbed Gracie by the horns and Swensen was able to lasso her and then sit on top of her. Goats, especially wild ones like Gracie, can be aggressive. They have pointy horns and charge when they feel threatened, which, as you might expect, is when a stranger tries to lasso them.

“She tried to run away and I just held on for dear life. After everything we’ve been through, I wouldn’t let her go,” Swensen said.

Swensen posted on Facebook that he planned to take Gracie to the Baltimore County Animal Care Center in Baldwin. All rescued animals in the district must be detained there for four days.

Kim Mendez saw the post and immediately became concerned about the goat in a shelter without a farm. Gracie wouldn’t feel good there, she thought. Indeed, Abbie Isaacs, the shelter’s communications manager, stated that it had been so long since the facility had taken in a goat that employees had to go to the farm store to find food for Gracie.

Mendez tagged her friend Aimee Darling, a human resources specialist who runs Old McDarling’s Rescue Farm in southern Maryland. Mendez, a self-proclaimed “dog guy” who rescues many different breeds, knew nothing about goats. But she knew Aimee had several of them and had a network of goat gurus.

Darling immediately sent Gracie’s adoption papers. As an adoptee from a shelter in Baltimore, Darling expected some problems in the approval process. However, county workers worked quickly; they didn’t want Gracie to stay longer than necessary and suffer from stress.

On October 2, the stay in the shelter came to an end. Swensen, Mendez and Darling moved their Facebook messages to the group chat to arrange the transfer.

Swensen loaded Gracie into his Toyota sedan and drove her to meet Mendez at Royal Farms near Thurgood Marshall International Airport in Baltimore, Washington. Since Darling had given instructions over the phone, they transferred her to Mendez’s truck and drove south for 90 minutes.

“She started napping,” Mendez said. “I talked to her the entire trip. I told her she had to be good to the new mom. I told her everything I would tell a dog. – You’ll be safe now. She seemed so sweet.

At Old McDarling’s, the women pulled Gracie out of the truck and Darling assessed her. Gracie, he guesses, is about 8 years old, which is the average age for goats. Judging by her stretched udders, Darling stated that she was a “baby-making machine”, possibly part of a large herd that had “nothing more than she needed” to produce babies for their owners. And then, when they no longer needed her, the owners put her out to pasture – or in her case, the suburban forest. Honey sees it all the time; that’s one of the reasons Gracie is her 46th rescued goat.

“There is a belief that goats are “just farm animals.” They have no value beyond what they can produce. And that’s not true,” she said. “Everyone has a personality. They may be goats, but here they are people.

A week later, Gracie joined Mrs. Parker, Larry, Nana and her other goat friends as they followed Darling around her farm in Lusby. She feels more and more comfortable with human touch, something she rarely did before. She has officially, happily retired. Darling has been updating his Facebook followers with photos, videos and observations about the newest addition to his flock, Queen Gracie.

“She doesn’t have to bear children anymore,” Darling said. “He can just be himself now.”