Pet Goat and Dog Friends Get Second Chance, Thanks to Animal Shelter

A stray pet goat and his two dog friends will find a happy home, thanks to a Dallas animal shelter.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on August 25 2010

The Alexander Mansion wedding chapel in Garland, Texas has seen plenty of odd couples. But the pairing of two stray animals—a Great Dane and a tame goat—was the strangest to be spotted there by a long shot.

Still, the two animals were best friends. “They were just so touching and so sweet from the very beginning,” Dr. Karen Fling, owner of the East Lake Pet Orphanage, told the Dallas Morning News. “They were an inseparable pair. They slept together and cuddled together and ate together.”

Fling decided to take them into her animal shelter until they could be placed together in a permanent home. Immediately, Minelli the goat and Judy the dog became the talk of the shelter, getting buzz on local blogs and TV shows.

But as soon as the spotlight hit, Fling received a nasty warning from the local police: she was in violation of a local law for harboring stray livestock. Minelli would need to be taken to a pen with other goats, and, if his original owner didn’t claim him, he would be sold at a livestock auction for $35, likely turning into someone’s dinner.

Fling couldn’t bear the thought of that happening, but luckily, the media attention around the case forced the police to back off. And, before long, the two animals’ original owners paid a visit to the animal shelter—along with a 3-legged retriever named Lucky. They claimed they couldn’t afford his vet bills, and wanted Fling to find new homes for all three pets.

A local restaurant held a fundraiser for the three animals, raising more than $2,000 to cover their vet care, and the three animals have attracted plenty of fans: Fling sometimes receives several hundred emails a day about adopting them. She hasn’t chosen a forever home for them yet, but there are plenty of great options for these three unlikely best friends.

Interested in adopting an animal? Find a new friend on Petfinder.

Filed under: Animals and Pets, Non-Profits,

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