If I had said to myself 'It will probably be alright' or 'I won't be much help anyway' or 'her owners will sort it' or a similar thought, it would have been too late for Esmeralda. My point is one individual can make a difference. We can all be agents of positive change in a sad and sorry world.
Esmeralda and Sandra...
When I first moved to Otorohanga, a small town in New Zealand's Waikato
region, I noticed a goat tied to a small shelter in a paddock near to my
home. After making enquiries I was told that she belonged to someone who
lived on the outskirts, and they came every couple of days and shifted her
hut to a new patch, so she would have plenty of grass to eat. As the days
went by I noticed the goat was always alone, chomping away on the grass, and
every few days the position of the hut shifted. But I never saw anyone visit
her.
One day I climbed over the fence and offered her some leftovers from my
dinner. The goat gobbled it down, and seemed grateful, so after that I went
to see her every day with a container of food, and hung around for a chat
and a few pats. I thought about a suitable name for her, and decided on
Esmeralda.
A few weeks after I started feeding Esmeralda we experienced some torrential
rain, that lasted for many hours. I was teaching music in my studio about
6pm when I had the sobering thought that the sloping land near where her hut
was would quickly fill with water, and if it did, she had no way of escaping
to higher ground. Thankfully it was near the end of the music lesson and the
moment it finished, I jumped in the car and drove down to her paddock.
Sure enough, floating on the lake of water that wasn't there in the morning,
was Esmeralda's hut. I immediately thought the worst when suddenly I spotted
her, still chained to the hut, and barely managing to stop herself from
toppling into the water. I had literally arrived in the nick of time.
I held onto Esmeralda so she wouldn't fall in the water, but didn't have
enough strength to haul in the hut. I shouted for help but I feared my voice
would be lost in the wind and rain, and there were no passers by out and
about in such weather.
I was wondering what on earth I could do when suddenly a neighbour apeared
at our side. With our combined strength we managed to haul in the hut, and
he helped me set it on dry land. Esmeralda was just fine after her
adventure, if a little miffed that I had come to see her without bringing
food. 🙂
The neighbour said: 'I have seen you feeding the goat, and when I looked out
and saw your car, I thought something like this would be happening.' I asked
the neighbour why Esmeralda's owners didn't come to check on her, and could
he tell me where to find them. He gave me directions on how to get to their
place.
Suffice it to say, a few days later Esmeralda was officially my goat
companion. The owner loaded her house on his truck and installed her at my
place. She was the first of my rescue goats, and she stayed with me for
three years until I left the area, and placed her to a marvellous home
where, to the best of my knowledge, she is still living happily.
I'm telling you the story because the thought just came to me out of the
blue. If I had said to myself 'It will probably be alright' or 'I won't be
much help anyway' or 'her owners will sort it' or a similar thought, it
would have been too late for Esmeralda.
My point is one individual can make a difference. We can all be agents of
positive change in a sad and sorry world.
PS Esmeralda, soon joined by her rescue sister Blanche, had
a large piece of land in front of my house (that I also owned) to free range
in. She wasn't tied up; I can't remember why she was tied up in this photo.
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