Coming on the heels of THIS STORY about a lady who was trying to get her pygmy goats legalized as pets in the City of Burnaby is THIS ONE from CBC about an 11 year old in Saanich who's trying to get that city to allow her to keep her own domesticated beasts.
In the City of Vancouver you’re allowed to keep cats, dogs, rats, rabbits, chinchillas and even up to 4 chickens on your property, but when it comes to barnyard animals the Animal Control Bylaw is clear:
7.2 A person must not keep in any area, temporarily or permanently, any horses, donkeys,
cattle, swine, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, turkeys, pheasants, quail, or other poultry or fowl
Why is that? Smells? Noise? A perceived risk of viral outbreaks? We say phooey to all of that, as does Saanich 6th grader Jillian McCue. One of her points she made to the CBC about keeping goats in an urban environment is that "They eat lawns so that you can use a lawn mower less frequently. As well they eat blackberry bushes and ivy so that you wouldn't have to weed whack as much."
While her argument sounds a bit like an April Fool's day prank that the Courier once PULLED, we agree with her. Blackberries are actually an INVASIVE SPECIES in BC, so by legalizing goats the city would be moving to address that issue. We've also been thinking of all the economic opportunities that could arise if cities opened up the barn door just a little bit. How about:
- Rooftop petting zoos which charge admission.
- Goat Sharing Co-ops.
- An entirely new industry: craft goat's milk and cheese manufacturing within the city limits.
- Goat poop could be sold to the folks who run those community gardens you see all over the city.
If you've ever been to Maplewood Farm in North Vancouver then you know how awesome goats are and the benefits of keeping backyard goats to you as a citizen don't need to be explained. Here:
Would you keep a goat as a pet? Let us know on THIS POST on our Facebook Page.
