Sarah Oliver
When Sarah Harvey, who owns Cafe 500 at the Melton Aerodrome, heard about a goat needing a home, she felt compelled to take her in.
The doe (aptly named ‘Goat’) originally belonged to an older lady in the Ballarat area and was relocated because of its headbutting behaviour.
Ms Harvey said they’ve been able to give Goat ‘a second life’.
“Otherwise it was probably going to go to someone to feed their dog,” she said.
Goat garnered popularity online after Ms Harvey posted about her on the cafe’s Facebook page.
“Originally I was posting mostly our food menu…and then after we got the goat, I thought ‘oh it’s something different, I’ll just put it up there and see what happens’ and it really went crazy on Facebook,” she said.
The goat came to Ms Harvey and her partner, Evan Reeve who does flight training at the aerodrome, during lockdown last year.
With local families and kids looking for something to do, the goat became an excuse to get out of the house for a while.
Ms Harvey said for locals during lockdown, the goat “brought some positivity to their life as well”.
Although Goat likes to head-butt, Ms Harvey said she’s usually pretty good as long as people and children are cautious around her.
“There’s been a few people who have got some cuts…but that’s why we chain her up so we can try to reduce that,” she said.
“A lot of people are good about it and understand that that’s just what goats are like.”
