Earlier this month, a herd of 200 goats were finishing up a grazing job in Issaquah Highlands, Washington, getting ready to move on to their next assignment.
The goats, who belong to Healing Hooves Natural Vegetation Management, help clear vegetation in spots that are too difficult for equipment or human workers to reach safely.
And while usually they are very good at their job — that evening they put together a master plan to escape.
The owners of Healing Hooves, Craig Madsen and Sue Lani Madsen, had been planning to move the heard to a new pen the next morning but somehow, without any consultation, the whole heard escaped.
“They decided they wanted to move sooner,” Sue Lani Madsen told The Dodo. “Probably one jostled another and a fence post was knocked over. One saw the opening and the rest followed.”
All of a sudden, 200 goats began to run down the street, stampeding into a nearby neighborhood and residents were shocked when they went outside to see the stampede.
“We’re not quite sure why they turned the corner,” Madsen said.
Thankfully, Healing Hooves has cautioned its neighbors about what to do if their goats ever escaped.
“We’ve emphasized over the years how some ornamentals found in yards (rhododendrons, azaleas) can be toxic to goats,” Madsen said. “Neighbors immediately started trying to keep them out of yards and kept them moving … and led to the Bark Park. Really handy to have a fully fenced dog park nearby and on the route they seemed to want to go!”
By the time the goats had reached the dog park, their handlers caught word about the big escape and ran out to attempt to corral the heard with their sheep dog, Gigi, and another dog, Nessie.
And by that point, the heard seemed ready to be safely contained after running amuck for a half hour.
Thankfully none of the goats were hurt during their escapades
You can watch the entire event go down below: