Submitted

After two or three years of research, the submission has been sent on to the City Council. They are looking at it and will hopefully decide to add this topic to the agenda.

Fingers crossed.

There are three magic moments I remember often.

• When we saw dolphins at a Monterey Bay beach and followed them up the shore. 
• Seeing fireflies for the first time in Kansas City.
• Walking into my backyard early one morning to check on Ms. Billy and finding these two precious babies with her.

The goat magic lasted for 21 days. Then they had to leave.

Goat Pictures

I'm finishing up the proposal for the city. In going through my pictures to find what would supplement the proposal well, I came across this picture and had to share.

We loved that baby goat for all 21 days. Isn't she cute?

More Deer Trouble

Just another look at the damage the deer are doing in gardens around Tooele. They eat the trees in the spring and destroy the produce this time of year.

Too bad they don't have the decency to finish one squash before they move onto the next.

Still interesting to me that goats are a nuisance, but deer have rights. Hmmm.......

Livestock Concerns of Tooele

As I've spoken with representatives of Tooele City one of the concerns they've voiced is that legalizing goats may open the door for people wanting to legalize other "farm animals".

It's a pretty resonable issue to stare down. What is the difference between goats and sheep? If we were to legalize goats, then would somebody want to legalize sheep next? Or pigs? I've never figured out how to define the difference between goats and sheep effectively. But the fact remains that there is one. If you Google "urban goats" the search returns story after story about people who decided they wanted a goat in their city back yard. However, if you Google "urban sheep" a yarn store tops out the search with a few stories and videos about sheep grazing at a city park, etc. In three pages of Google I could not see one story about somebody trying to keep a sheep in their city back yard.

Of course its pretty commonly known that there are severall small breeds of goats, whereas I had to do some research to know that there are also small breeds of sheep.

My personal experience has been that goats are more friendly. The year after I had to get rid of Ms. Billy I attended the County Fair where there were both goats and sheep. The goats came right over to me and were very friendly. The sheep shied away from me. But its possible that the goats had been around people more since they had been brought specifically for the petting area. Whereas the sheep were in completition.

I'd love feedback on this. It would help me define more clearly the difference between goats and sheep. Any thoughts on on why goats are more popular as a backyard than sheep? Or pig? You hear about people keeping pot belly pigs as pets. Where do you think that fits?

The Magic of Babies

At some point in our short association with Ms. Billy I looked at her and wondered what was going on with her udders. They were filling up and she was starting to produce milk. The funny thing was that I even took her to the animal clinic where they asked if she could be pregnant. 

"Nah," I told the vet. "Couldn't be," I told myself.

But then started noticing how she was more round in the middle. It dawned on me where she had been before she was given to us. She was one of two goats that had been picked up on the streets of Tooele. The other was male. They were in the same pen. Once I thought that through, I realized there was a real possibility of her being pregnant.

As I watched, I became more convinced by the day, and watched her more closely. One night something clued me in that she might be close (I don't even remember what now). But I checked on her the first thing next morning.

Other than my wedding day and the births of my children there are two events in my life that are more magical than any other. The first time I saw fireflies and the the morning I laid my eyes on those baby goats. I'll tell you, it was like magic.

From that day forward my kids wanted to spend every moment in that goat pen loving those babies. I could hardly get them to come in the house. Of course I was usually out there with them. They thought they were so clever to name the babies Annie Oakley and Billy the Kid.

As magic as that day was, the day that followed was devastating. I remember just as vividly, opening that door to man appointed to deliver the notice that informed us that we could not keep the goats. After he left, I sobbed. I don't remember when I finally brought myself to tell the children. I just remember feeling like somebody had yanked my moment of magic harshly from beneath my feet.

Changes to the Blog

Yes! It is still the same old me. But the blog looks different. My whole life has been undergoing changes, and its time that effected my online presence. SkinTastic Creations is no more. I really shut down that operation over two years ago and then thought I would use the blog to share information about soapmaking. But the little bit I've added to the blog has been about the goats. So I made it official and changed the title to the Tooele Goat Justice League.

The title of the league was chosen based on the efforts of another woman in Washington who granted permission about a year ago for us to use this variation of her name. See her story and more at http://www.goatjusticeleague.org/Home_Page.html. If Seattle can do it, surely Tooele can. But there are as many stories of denial in changing these ordinances as there are successes.

What will it take to get the attention of the City Council?

First we need people who are willing to work. I am only one person, and a very busy one at that (aren't we all). I get caught up with life and convince myself that its silly to be trying to legalize goats in Tooele. But then somebody asks about it. So I know you are interested. So many Tooele citizens are. Some because they want goats. Others because they own goats legally and understand that it is an issue that should be challenged. Yet other people just see the logistics of it even though they would never own a goat.

What are the comments I get?

Such a variation. But it is interesting how often goats are compared to dogs. I've done some interesting research about that. Maybe I will have to post it here.

I've made a goal to start posting every day. I'm not sure how else to create the energy needed to pull this off.

If you are interested in legalizing goats in Tooele, get involved in commenting. Let's figure out how to organized a group of people willing to make this happen. Post this to facebook, tell your friends about it, and help get the word out. I look forward to helping make this happen.