My hand to God.
But just as the Bedlington/sheep confusion is real, who would think anybody could mistake a goat for a German Shepherd?? This is also absolutely true; I witnessed it myself and there was no mistake. Suburbanites and city people can be remarkably clueless about some aspects of country life.
Maybe it was a long way off, in the shade, and they were nearsighted?
Part of it I'm sure is that people don't see what they don't expect to see. I probably would have said, "OMG, is that a GOAT? What is it doing HERE?" but only because I used to have a nice little goat named Leona. She was an urban goat (not even a SUBurban goat) and spoiled within an inch of her life. I used to swing by the feed store after work in my good wool suit, silk blouse, pearls, and high heels, and buy a bale of 1st cut alfalfa and a bag of Purina Goat Chow and stuff them in the trunk of my (old) BMW. Always got a laugh from the guys at the feed store.
The place we used to live was originally quite country, populated by folks who moved down from north Georgia to work in the sheet metal plant in Atlanta, and the city had simply swallowed the area up without changing it. Lots of our neighbors had goats, and chickens, and ducks . . . no cows or horses though.
The amazing thing is that the zoning actually ALLOWED cows and horses, if you had enough yard.