Why Consider Goats?

These are some of the general reasons I've listed in the packet I intend to submit to Tooele City.

·         Most sources state that goats were one of the first animals to be domesticated about 10,000 years ago.  Many sources compare this with dogs, showing that both animals were domesticated approximately the same time.  In fact, when passing Council Bill Number 116014, the City of Seattle stated that “goats, along with dogs are the earliest animals domesticated by humans, roughly 10,000 years ago”.

·         More goat’s milk is consumed worldwide than cow’s milk.

·         Goat’s milk has a more easily digested fat and protein content than cow’s milk.  This makes it an excellent possible choice for those who have allergies or intolerance to cow’s milk.  Sources for goat milk in Tooele are limited.  Goat milk is generally more expensive than cow milk making it harder for struggling families to supply the needed solution for children or adults who deal with this challenge.

·         Many progressive cities are recognizing the value goats have to offer as a sustainable choice for a pet.  These cities include: Seattle (pop. 563,374), Berkeley (pop.169,327), Charlottesville (pop. 41,487), Austin (pop. 26,851), St. Paul (pop. 285,058), Portland (pop. 562,182) and Pasadena (pop. 143,667). 

What other reasons should be included?

Goats Compared to Other Pets

Many in Tooele City residents would argue that goats make better pets than dogs. This is an opinion. But because many cities have chosen to change the definition of goats from “farm animals” to pets, Ive included the following information in the packet I will submit to the city. It shows one reason why the definition of goats is shifting from "farm animal" to "pet".

Comparing Size

A Pygmy goat weighs half as much as a Saint Bernard. A Nigerian Dwarf goat weighs in at about the same as a Greyhound. Even a Nubian goat, which is not considered a miniature breed, weighs less than a Great Dane.

Many of the cities who have changed their ordinances to allow goats have added a weight limit to the wording of the ordinance. The following charts show two things. 1) Many large dog breeds compare to or outweigh many goat breeds. 2) Tooele City could easily apply a weight limit to the ordinance and allow goats that are much smaller than the dogs allowed in the city.

Weights of Various Breeds of Goats

Breed	Male (in pounds)	Female (in pounds)
Alpine	170	135
Anglo-Nubian	175	135
Angora	180-225	70-110
Appenzell	145	100
Boer	110-135	90-100
Brown Shorthair	140-190	120-140
Don	155	80
LaMancha	150	130
Nigerian Dwarf	75	75
Nubian	175	135
Pygmy	75	50
Saanen	145	110
Toggenberg

Sources:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/

http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/goat/factsheet/breeds.htm

http://www.raising-goats.com/raising-nubian-goats.html

http://www.ndga.org/about.html

http://www.ibna.ro/arhiva/AZ%2011-4/AZ%2011-4%2003%20Pesmen%20%20Yardimci.pdf

http://www.goats4h.com/GoatsHome.html

Weight of Various Breeds of Large Dogs

Breed	Weight (in pounds)
Akita	75-120
Alaskan Malamute	75-100
Belgian Sheepdog	50-75
Bloodhound	80-110
Great Pyrenees	85-125
Greyhound	55-75
Irish Wolfhound	100-130
Labrador Retriever	50-75
Great Dane	110-160
German Shepherd	60-100
Newfoundland	120-160
Old English Sheepdog	80-100
Rottweiler	80-130
Saint Bernard	120-180

Source:

http://www.dog-breed-facts.com/Breeds/a-breed-list.html

Deer in Tooele

You may have seen the deer that hang out in the Elton Park area. They are beautiful and seem to grown in number every year.

They are becoming more aggressive in my garden. It used to be that they showed up occasionally, but if you want to see deer in the early morning hours of each day, I know the spot.

They'll be leaping over my back fence to nibble on my fruit trees and nip off the tops of my struggling tomato plants. Later in the year they will take a bite out of a tomato and then move on to the next juicy red fruit, leaving each remaining tomato inedible by the time I get to it. They've stripped the bottom half of my fruit trees this year.

I finally called the city. They won't do anything. Basically, if I don't want the deer in my yard I have to put up a ten foot fence (around half an acre) or find other means to keep them from eating up my food. Can you picture a ten foot fence across the front part of my yard?

Now here's the interesting thing.

How big is a goat compared to a deer? How much nuisance is a caged goat compared to a deer who can jump my fence? Whose job should it be to take care of these animals that now call our city their home? Why won't the city take responsibility for removing the deer when they required that I remove the goat?

I can't have milk. It's illegal. I can't have eggs. The dogs and raccoons slaughtered my chickens. I can't even have a garden. It belongs to the deer.

In other words, the deer have more rights than I do.

What can we do as citizens to claim our rights?

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.

What are the concerns?

I survived the City Council's Open Forum. They were very nice to me and hopefully I really said what I think I said.

Now it is time to put together a new proposal. With that I am trying to dig up all the possible concerns anybody might have about goats being legal as pets. Basically I've been told that it would be hard to say that only properties larger than a certain amount can have goats. In both Seattle, Washington and Charlottesville, Virginia where they have made these kind of changes, they have clarified that the goats allowed were miniature goats. Pets, really.

So comment here and tell me what your concern would be whether you live in Tooele or somewhere else.

Goat Legislation

There have been so many changes in my soapmaking venture. I made a very wise decision to shut down the business a year and a half ago. I will always make soap because I love the process and the product. And perhaps I should be sharing bits of soap wisdom in this blog.

My hopes to change the laws concerning goats and bring Ms. Billy home were dashed to pieces about a year ago when I received a letter from the city saying they were not willing to consider changing the ordinance concerning goats. I was very discouraged by this. I shoved the letter into a binder and have ignored it for about a year. Except in those moments when I cry because I had to get rid of an animal I'd become very attached to. Except in those moments when I see dogs running the neighborhood and remember how the city believes that goats are more trouble than dogs. And especially...except in those moments when I worry about our economy and how people are going to continue to feed their families. And I wonder about a city dictating what citizens can do with their personal property because they don't want to have to deal with those who are not responsible in caring for their animals. I worry about this last one the most. If families are trying to work hard to become as self-reliant as possible, why stand in their way.

I'm taking it before the City Council tonight. I've had friends encourage me to do this. I've talked to people in other cities who are fighting similar battles. I'm tired of this eating at me. I need to express my thoughts to these public officials again. I'm looking for support. If you are close enough to show up at the meeting and want to come support this cause, the meeting is tonight, May 4 at 7:30 in the Tooele City Hall.

New Adventure Turned Sour: Part Two

What an adventure! New baby goats. We all fell in love with them immediately and named the babies Billy the Kid and Annie Oakley. They jumped right up into our laps when we went out and sat on the tire playground the children made. We spent hours playing with them. I never new when I got a goat that I could become so attached.
I was also thrilled to know I would have more milk than I knew what to do with. Unfortunately, the day after the babies were born a Courtesy Notice was delivered to our door, informing us that we were not zoned for goats. There had been some misunderstandings between the different departments of the city and as I looked into the ordinance, I found that in fact we were not zoned for goats, even with our half acre.
We were all devastated to lose the goats. But after many tears, we found a new home for Ms. Billy and began our new adventure. Goat legislation. I am in the process of putting together a proposal to change the Tooele City Ordinance concerning goats being kept in residential areas on properties with appropriate space. I've read ordinances from many other cities to learn how they have dealt with such issues. I've learned that cities like Seattle, Washington and Pasadena, California have made room for goats, adding restrictions appropriate to those areas. I'm thinking that if they made room, surely surely there is room on my half acre in Tooele. I've had some positive conversations with City Councilmen and the Mayor and hope to finish putting my proposal together and gather up the signatures for my petition soon.
We all miss Ms. Billy, but I did put some milk away in the freezer so we could start on the project of making goatmilk soap. I'll add another entry about that project soon. I've learned some interesting things about goatmilk, and am anxious to test out some product.