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Italian mayor offers free goats to anyone who can catch them (www.upi.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The mayor of an Italian island is attempting to solve an animal overpopulation problem with an unusual offer: free goats for anyone who can catch them.

Riccardo Gullo, the mayor of Alicudi, in Sicily's Aeolian archipelago, introduced an "adopt-a-goat" program when the small island's wild goat population grew to six times the human population of about 100.

Gullo said anyone who emails a request to the local government and pays a $17 "stamp fee" can take as many goats as they wish, as long as they transport them off the island within 15 days of approval.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago

Free Italian goats and Botswanan elephants? My zoo is coming along nicely.

[–] frickineh 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh boy, I'm about to get myself a bunch of goats. Or no goats. I've never tried to catch a wild goat, so who can say how that'd go.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I don't imagine catching goats is that difficult - some variety if net would do. It's the transportation of your goats that might be tricky.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Oh boy, I'm about to ship everyone a bunch of goats. Or no goats. I've never tried to ship a wild goat, so who can say how that'd go.

[–] frickineh 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But I want the goats to love me. I was leaning more toward bribery. Then they can come live at my house and I'll never have to mow the lawn again. I see no flaws in this plan whatsoever.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

OK, you get a big truck and throw some lettuce in the back - if there are that many goats some will wander in.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

I know just the man to solve this problem

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

This guy's has never heard of the term 'Judas Goat'.

For the uninitiated, you put a tracker on one of the goats you catch. Let it go. He goes back to his friends, and then you have goat stew.

[–] teamevil 3 points 10 months ago

Isn't that how it works anyway? If I can catch the goat, I'm keeping it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Can't just not bureaucratize it with a stamp fee. If no one was taking the goats before, they're still not taking them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Transporting livestock absolutely requires documentation, and $17 is getting off easy. Bringing an animal to a new location where it could potentially come in contact with local wildlife and you better be damn sure of it's provenance, immunizations, testing, etc. It sounds like they're not requiring any of that, presumably because it's an isolated population and most of the requirements aren't needed, so all they need is the document showing where the animal came from. Of all the things to be mad at bureaucracy about this is not one of them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Ok, but chill I'm not mad, just poking tipsily at conversations :) I'm not in the market for goats.