Tethered by the neck outside the California home was an extremely emaciated 5-year-old female goat with overgrown hooves and enlarged udders resulting from an advanced case of mastitis. The suffering animal immediately gained the officer’s sympathy, bolstering his determination to help her.
The man who owned the home in question claimed that he had purchased the goat only two weeks earlier from a nearby farm. Officer Ferrario, however, was skeptical that someone would have bought a goat in such dire condition and not immediately brought her to a veterinarian. An investigation of the farm where the goat was allegedly purchased to assess the relative condition of the herd of origin is underway, and it is our hope that whoever was responsible for this goat’s deteriorated condition will be prosecuted for animal cruelty and brought to justice.
The good news is that Coco’s life began to turn around after Officer Ferrario took her into custody, for she is now truly loved and cared for at Farm Sanctuary’s California Shelter. However, though she was brought to the hospital for treatment soon after her arrival and returned to the sanctuary on the same day, Coco is certainly not out of the woods yet. An abscess about the size of a volleyball makes up the right side of her udder, and she has another smaller one on her jaw. Plus, her body is infested inside and out with parasites which have severely lowered her red blood cell count. Coco will eventually need surgery to remove the right side of her udder, so we are now doing everything possible to ensure she is strong and healthy enough to get through the pending operation, and we are in need of your help.
