Why Goats?

Founder Deborah fell in love with goats at an early age. "Goats are really special beings," says Deb. "They have wonderful personalities and are very similar to dogs in their friendliness and curious nature. They are confident, hardy, and very social. Goats seem to be all the rage. There are even goats that hike and surf!"

When you mention the words “dairy” or “meat”, many people only think about cows. Few people realize that goats are also widely used in dairy and meat production. For both goats and cows, life on these "farms" can be cruel and horrible, and death is always inevitable — unless a rescue steps in to save them.

Every year, we rescue a large number of male baby goats from commercial and small dairy goat farms. Why? Because males cannot get pregnant and make milk. If not for rescues who are ready to take in these baby boys, the male kids at dairy farms are killed shortly after birth.

We believe all animals deserve to live long happy lives free from cruelty, torture, and slaughter. In addition to animals from dairy and meat production facilities, we also save animals that are abused, abandoned, or injured, animals with special needs, and animals whose owners are unable to keep them.

In the fabric industry, Cashmere and Angora goats are shorn midwinter, when they need their coats most. As a result, many of these goats become vulnerable to die of cold and stress. Millions upon millions of goats in this industry suffer unimaginable cruelty being born for their fibers and harshly sheared. Between 50 to 80% of young goats in this industry are killed because their coats do not meet the standards set by the farmers.

Fun facts about goats:

Goats can be taught their name and to come when called.
Goats prefer happy people! Studies have shown that goats are more attracted to smiling faces than non-smiling faces.
Goats were one of the very first animals to be tamed by humans and were being herded over 9000 years ago.
Goats are intelligent and emotional and can identify their friends and their offspring by their voices alone.
Goats hate water. They don’t like to come out of the barn on rainy days.
Goats are browsers; meaning they love to eat branches, bark, bushes, and shrubs in addition to grass.
Goats have rectangular pupils, and extremely good peripheral and night vision. They are prey animals, so they need to guard against predators.
All goats have horns, both male and female. They are used for self-defense in the wild, but also help to regulate their body temperature.
Goats are very agile climbers and jumpers. They are known to scale cliffs and climb trees!
There are over 210 breeds of goats in the world, and the majority of goats live in the Mideast and Asia.
Baby goats are called “kids”, males “bucks” or “wethers if castrated”, and females “does” or “nannies”.

Why Goats?

Fun facts about goats:

What's goating on at Goatlandia? Sign up to get the scoop!