The story of two pygmy goats that got lost in Belfast before ending up in a police cruiser went viral Sunday, with more than 1,475 people sharing the police department’s Facebook post on the meandering goats and 173 offering comments by Sunday night.
“Who is going to clean the car?” one woman asked. Another said, “Hope the kids get home soon.”
Belfast police also got in on the fun both before and after Louis and Mowgli’s owners were located Sunday afternoon.
“Louis and Mowgli enjoyed their day trip with Sgt. (Daniel) Fitzpatrick, but alas, all good things come to an end. Perhaps in the next budget year we can inquire as to getting some patrol goats,” police wrote on Facebook.
The tale of Louis and Mowgli – Mowgli is the name of the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” stories – began around 9:45 a.m. Sunday, when the goats were spotted roaming on High Street near the parking lot for the rail trail.
Fitzpatrick found the goats in a woman’s garage snacking on cat food. He used a cat leash to lead them into his cruiser, The Associated Press reported.
Shortly after rescuing the tiny goats, police started posting messages in hopes of finding their owners.
“Got goats. We do, and they do not belong to us. We had these two little kids turn up on High Street near the parking lot for the rail trail. They are currently riding around with Sgt. Fitzpatrick, serenading him in goat music,” police posted on Facebook.
Fitzpatrick, who took several photographs of the goats in the back seat of his cruiser, said the animals attracted attention as he rode around town.
“It was entertaining and got some heads turning. It was a good community outreach,” he said.
Fitzpatrick spent several hours riding around nearby neighborhoods in the hope of locating the owners. The department also posted updates on his progress on Facebook.
“Though he is thankful for the company on this cool Sunday morning, he would gladly return them to their owners. He is running out of vegetables to feed them,” read a post on the police department’s Facebook page.
Melissa Bisson, a Belfast police dispatcher, described the goats as being knee-high and cute.
The daughter of the goats’ owners showed up at the police station about 1 p.m. to reclaim Mowgli, who is dark brown, and Louis, who is light brown, after spotting the officer’s plea for help with goat wrangling on Facebook.
She walked the goats on leashes back to their home about a quarter-mile from the station. The goats’ owner could not be reached for comment.
Fitzpatrick said the goats are voracious eaters, a quality that could be used to fight crime.
“If I had any marijuana in the car, they would have found it,” he said.
Belfast has been experiencing its share of human and animal interactions this month.
On Wednesday morning, a moose was spotted wandering in and out of morning commuter traffic on the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which carries Route 1 traffic over the Passagassawakeag River. The police department posted a photograph of the moose on its Facebook page and a warning that read, “You may experience heavy moose traffic on the Passagassawakeag River Veterans Memorial Bridge this morning.”
Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:
Twitter: @QuimbyBeth
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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