(AP) PORTLAND, Oregon — An apparent act of protest against a scheduled sweep of a nearby homeless camp saw the temporary release of a herd of city goats in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday morning.
The goats’ enclosure’s fence in north Portland was broken, allowing them to escape. According to The Oregonian/OregonLive, Robin Casey, a co-owner of the nonprofit Belmont Goats, discovered a note rolled up inside the fence.
The news source quoted the letter as asking, “In what reality is the comfort of five goats valued over the shelter of more than fifteen people? The Belmont Goats should now take a stroll through the park. “Some anarchists” signed their names to it.
All of the runaway goats, according to Casey, have been found and seem to be in good health.
Conflict in the neighbourhood over city plans to construct a tiny home village was there at the time of the event.
The location where the goats are presently living, on city-owned land, was chosen for a tiny home village and initiatives for affordable housing, according to a 2017 announcement by Portland officials. They consented to move the goats to a nearby new location. Yet, there is an encampment with more than a dozen people living there instead of the location where the goats are meant to be moved.
According to Cody Bowman, a spokesman for Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, the city has been reaching out to the people of the campsite at least twice a month for the past six months. He claimed that in addition to other amenities, the inhabitants received shelter beds, free transportation to a shelter, and storage for their possessions.
The Oregonian quoted Bowman as saying, “This long-term cleanup work is to enable for the construction of a new safe rest village location.” “Last night’s senseless incident resulted in damage to private property and posed an immediate danger to the goats that were let loose. Since early this morning, city employees have been in touch with Belmont Goats to assist the staff in bringing the goats back to safety.
The encampment residents were allegedly instructed to call 211, the human services hotline, for information regarding shelter resources, according to a note left in the fence. According to The Oregonian/OregonLive, many people have complained that calling 211 frequently results in a failure to connect with a shelter or other resources.
Co-owner Casey of Belmont Goats stated that the nonprofit and camp residents get along well.
Their eyes and ears serve as ours. One of the campers called me to let me know they had seen one of our goats limping. Additionally, there was a fire last summer, and the fire department was unable to respond right away. But one of the campers had a fire extinguisher, and he put out our fire,” Casey was quoted as saying by the news source.
Although we don’t have much control over it, we don’t want anyone to be swept, Casey said. We want to promote humanity, care for people, provide them with a safe place to live, and represent their interests. We support them in this.
When a goat died, Casey said it was unrelated, despite initial media reports to the contrary. Nearly a day prior to the fence-cutting, an older goat passed away on Monday morning after a protracted illness, according to Casey.
