Besides, haven't you heard of the "Judas goat?"
All goats should be destroyed. It says so somewhere in the Bible, I'm sure. Anyhow...look at their eyes...Satan's eyes. No goats in my neighborhood. Baaaaa..... /sarc
Posted on 11/04/2005 12:50:03 PM PST by Cagey
MILFORD, Ohio - The family of a 12-year-old boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has filed a federal lawsuit fighting the removal of two pet goats that the boy uses for therapy.
David Valentine plays with the goats - jumping with them on a trampoline in the backyard of his parents' house - and even lets them inside to watch television.
But officials in Miami Township in Clermont County, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati, say the goats violate zoning codes. Neighbors also have complained about the goats.
Patty Valentine, David's mother, said the family would have to move, which it can't afford to do, if David can't continue living with the goats.
The Valentines, with the help of a Columbus-based advocacy group for people with disabilities, filed a federal lawsuit this week. The Ohio Legal Rights Service argues that it's against the law to discriminate against a handicapped person by denying him a dwelling.
The family has a lot of animals on its property: dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, turtles, a parrot and a gerbil. An electric fence keeps all the animals in. But only the goats help David manage his disorder, his mother said.
David, a seventh-grader in the Milford school district, keeps his grades up because he knows he doesn't get to play with or take care of the goats unless he does well in school, his mother said.
David said the goats - a 2-year-old caramel pygmy and an 18-month-old American Alpine - motivate him more than the other pets because they're like a kid with ADHD.
"They don't really listen very well," said David, a seventh-grader in the Milford school district. "That's kind of like me."
The township has summoned the family to court Nov. 17 to try to enforce its zoning code.
"If you live in a subdivision, if you buy a house, do you want goats in your neighbor's backyard?" asked Township Administrator David Duckworth.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
They can be pretty loud ... so can dogs.
When pet goats are outlawed . . .
Dogs can be noisy, too. Same thing. I cannot see the problem with a couple of goats.
Most of them would never steal goats, but there are a few.
I know a breeder who used to sell a few wethers for slaughter to some immigrants. They would slaughter it right there and have a fiesta. It got to be a bigger and bigger event, though, and she had to put a stop to it.
Heh. But a couple goat berries ain't gonna kill him.
I have no objection to goats, but I have a big problem with any diagnosis of ADHD, ADD, or any of the other "It's not my fault, the kid's sick" excuses for poor parenting.
Hmmm--goats instead of Ritalin. Imagine the possibilities.
"Agreed. I have goats, and was just trying to think of why someone would object."
Well, it just ain't right to keep goats in town. They's farm animals, see. In town, folks keep town animals, like yer dogs and yer cats. It just ain't fittin' to have farm animals where you're s'posed to have town animals. It just ain't right, and that's it!
Just another case of local government trying to become a nanny state! :-)
"Heh. But a couple goat berries ain't gonna kill him."
That's true enough. baa....
Did you say dogs and rats?
Besides, haven't you heard of the "Judas goat?"
All goats should be destroyed. It says so somewhere in the Bible, I'm sure. Anyhow...look at their eyes...Satan's eyes. No goats in my neighborhood. Baaaaa..... /sarc
I agree 100%.
Some people just get their panties in a wad over unimportant stuff.
Let the kid have his goats. Geezh.
I had a pet goat once.
They make excellent pets, specially when you get them just after they have weaned.
Used to take it on walks with a leash, just like a dog.
When I came home from work it would come running.
Probly the friendliest animal I ever had.
Goats, as far as I know, cannot be housebroken so best to keep them in the back yard.
Lots to be said for an animal that will mow the grass and fertilize it at the same time.
I think they're just a handful of raisinettes that fell outta the kid's pocket while jumping.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
"Some people just get their panties in a wad over unimportant stuff.
Let the kid have his goats. Geezh.
"
Yep. A friend of mine had goats...on a farm...but several of them. She milked them and made cheese...made a nice living from it, too.
She had this one nanny goat that was an absolute pet. Followed you around, sniffing for a treat. My friend had house-trained her and she used to come in the house and curl up in front of the fireplace in the winter time. When she needed to go out, she'd go to the back door and paw at it a little.
Both the goat-keeper and the goat liked me, too, which was a good thing, since I spend many a night there in my 20s.
Do you suppose that Mary (the one with the little lamb) had ADHD? Perhaps the lamb SHOULD be brought to school!
How hard would it be to have the goats certified as "helper animals"? Can it be done? Where would one go to get a certification?
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