When Scribbles was living in a backyard at only one or two weeks old, however, neighborhood children thought he was a toy. A visitor was alarmed to see the children playing roughly with the baby goat and chasing him until he fell over from exhaustion. The concerned man convinced his friend to relinquish Scribbles, and he immediately began searching for a good home. When the rescuer’s daughter contacted Farm Sanctuary, we offered Scribbles sanctuary at our Northern California Shelter.

Not knowing the details of Scribbles’ origins, we couldn’t be sure that he had received his mother’s milk, which would have supplied immunity-boosting colostrums, or that he lived in a sanitary environment during the delicate period just after he was born. Over his first days with us, therefore, we vigilantly monitored him for signs of the infections common among goats who receive inadequate care in their infancy. So far, we are happy to report, Scribbles is doing just fine and making himself quite at home. Here at our sanctuary, he will receive all the gentle attention he needs to thrive, safe among those who understand that he deserves not to be a plaything but simply to play.