ODESSA — At Ladybug Farm Sanctuary, every goat has a story.
Able was born with his hind legs twisted backward. The owner of the 3-acre Odessa sanctuary found the goat, now a year old, being sold on Craigslist for $50. She purchased him and fundraised for corrective surgery and a wheelchair.
Xyla, which means wood dweller, once lived in a Westchase forest. She smiles, sometimes on command.
Bolt earned his name by taking off down Plant City’s Highway 92 when the trapper came.
As for the sanctuary’s newest resident, Billy G, he’s a bit of a mystery. Living wild in Temple Terrace, he seems to have as many lives as a cat: local lore is that he escaped a religious ritual and regularly avoided becoming an alligator’s meal — but more on that soon.
The sanctuary at 12536 Tyler Run Ave. has other animals that make up its population of more than 75, if you count the ducks and chickens. Over the years, about 80 goats have been adopted out to farms.
“We’re a farm animal sanctuary for abandoned, abused, injured, neglected and special-needs farm animals,” said founder and president Kris Hedstrom. She has been rescuing animals for more than a decade and made her efforts official three years ago by establishing a nonprofit. She wants to help the animals no one else wants.
Take Red, the 32-year-old horse.
“He’s exceptionally old,” Hedstrom said. “He came from another rescue where the husband died and wife had dementia.”
Stanley, a miniature donkey, was rescued from a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse.
Georgie the sheep is blind.
“He just kind of hangs out here,” Hedstrom said.
But goats are the focus of her sanctuary, which has three employees, 40 regular volunteers and around $10,000 a month of overhead when medical bills are included.
“People just let their goats go, especially bucks, which are not worth a lot to breeders,” Hedstrom said. Or someone buys one for a pet, realizes caring for the animal is a lot of work and money, and then abandons them in a neighborhood.
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Explore all your optionsThat might have been the case for Billy G, the brown and white-striped goat who appeared in Temple Terrace around eight months ago and lived in and around Takomah Trail Park. But Annette Renny, who lives nearby, has another theory.
“There’s people in that area who practice Santería,” she said. “I think he escaped.”
Santería, Spanish for “worship of saints,” is a blend of the African religion of Yoruba and the Roman Catholic faith. Animal sacrifice intended to help cure a loved one’s illness is among the religion’s practices — a legal one, since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that animal sacrifice for religious purposes is protected from prosecution.
Residents tracked Billy G — who Hedstrom thinks is about 18 months old — on the Temple Terrace Bulletin Board on Facebook.
“He became a celebrity,” Renny said. “People considered him a mascot.”
“The Temple Terrace mascot wants to wish y’all a good morning!!” Brandy Ann Christian posted on April 3, along with a photograph of him walking across a sidewalk.
But some worried about his health.
“If he stepped on a nail or something, he could die of tetanus,” Hedstrom said. Billy G’s hooves were also overgrown, which can cause pain and injury. Plus “goats are herd animals. They need other goats around.”
Renny was concerned that Billy G would be hit by a car or eaten by an alligator that lived in his favorite drinking pond. She was fed up with neighborhood kids throwing trash at him. “So a group of us decided we would come up with a plan to save him,” Renny said.
Ladybug Farm Sanctuary agreed to take him in. Animal rescuers Heath Bodden and Ronda Lang took on the task of trapping the goat.
They spotted Billy G near 50th Street on June 3 and pulled their car alongside him. They then dropped grapes. As he ate, Lang placed a lasso around his neck and exited the car.
Because goats only have bottom teeth, the rescuers were not worried about being bitten. But goats are surprisingly strong and Billy G was no exception.
He reared up, pulled Lang to the ground and dragged her into a nearby ditch. Bodden raced over and helped hold down the goat. Once in their car, Billy G smiled for a photograph.
Billy G is living in the sanctuary’s quarantine barn and yard until he’s medically cleared. In a week or so, he should be able to join the herd of 22 that includes Elvis the three-legged goat and Daisy Mae, another goat in need of a wheelchair due to nerve damage from being bitten in the back by a donkey at her last home.
“Her left leg came back, but her right leg, we’re still working on,” Hedstrom said. “She’s our little princess.”
The laser therapy that Daisy Mae needs is expensive, Hedstrom added, and she’s on her seventh wheelchair in three years, all of which is funded through donations.
As for Billy G’s former Temple Terrace neighbors, the sanctuary let them know that he is OK.
“We are so grateful to everyone that has kept an eye on Billy G these last few months!” they wrote on the Facebook page. “And we are so honored to have him here!!!”
If you want to help
To learn how to volunteer or donate to Ladybug Farm Sanctuary, visit ladybugfarmsanctuary.com.
