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Abigail the goat is getting used to the hustle and bustle of a Lower Mainland animal sanctuary

The goat now lives on a Langley farm with cows, chickens, pigs, dogs, and other goats.
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Abigail the goat is doing better since being taken in by the Happy Herd farm animal sactuary. (Happy Herd photo)

Happy Herd animal sanctuary has grown by one goat that is on now the mend.

Abigail had a rough go before the Langley sanctuary for farm animals.

“We got an email around Christmas about a goat who was abandoned on a property in Langley,” said Diane Marsh, sanctuary founder.

The new tenants of the property reached out for information on how to care for the goat. What does a person do with an abandoned goat?

“They had been in touch with every organization they could, and no one had answered them,” she said.

“We went, and she was in a small pen that was more a scrap heap and the only shelter was a piece of tarp. They had to get a screwdriver to open the fence. She immediately ran out, and ran the 300 feet and stood next to our car. We picked her up and put her in. [A man] came running out in his bathrobe and yelling ‘you aren’t going to eat her, are you?’ We gave him our brochure and drove home.”

A vet check revealed the goat had a bladder infection.

“As [the vet] grabbed her horn, it snapped off,” Marsh noted.

She said that’s a major sign of starvation and malnutrition.

The goat was de-wormed, and given pain medication and antibiotics. Her overgrown feet were trimmed.

“We also treated her for biting lice,” she said.

The vet figured her to be about 10 years old.

The goat has only four teeth left.

“We don’t think she had ever seen another animal, because even the cat walking by scared her,” she said.

The goat was dubbed Abigail and was given a quiet space to become adjusted to her new surroundings. She’s filling out and looking better.

“Slowly, when it was quiet, we would let her wander in their area but as soon as anyone moved too quick, she panicked and ran back to her area,” Marsh said. “Gradually, over the last few weeks, she has settled down and now will share a hay manger with the quietest ones. At dinner she runs to her own area, and we leave her there and lock her into her house at night.”

• Learn more about the Happy Herd sanctuary

Remember Garth the piglet? He’s growing up at Happy Herd.



Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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