A Bay Area man fears his goats, both well-loved by the community and appreciated by city officials for their help staving off fires, were stolen away from him, he says.
Ken Houston is a third-generation Oakland resident who runs the nonprofit Beautification Council, a community organization that works with unhoused and formerly-incarcerated people in Oakland, with the stated mission to “revitalize without gentrifying.” He said that his goats — named Dakota and Meenie Miny — were allegedly taken from their lot on International Boulevard and 91st Avenue in a coordinated effort Friday evening or early Saturday morning, as first reported by KRON.
“I went in through the gate, I went to the back and I saw the back was cut,” he said. “Someone had a grinder or some bolt cutters, they cut it and you can see how they lured the goats out.”
Houston says the animals were likely lured away with bird feed and tomatoes, based on the trail the suspect or suspects left behind. A black “California Republic” hat was also left behind. He also suspects that “this was planned,” though he does not believe he was targeted in particular.
Meenie Miny and Dakota chase a person down in their East Oakland lot.
Courtesy of Ken Houston“Both of the goats have been trained for years around humans,” Houston said.
They’re well-regarded within their East Oakland neighborhood. In fact, Houston says they’re considered “the neighborhood goats.”
“They stay in a neighborhood where the neighbors come and feed them. They take care of them,” he said.
Houston says that Dakota and Meenie Miny, both rescued from slaughter, are even contracted by the city of Oakland to graze on grassy, vacant lots for fire prevention efforts in East Oakland.
Recently, the goats have taken on the role of emotional support animals.
“Now that we’re almost coming out of COVID, I use them as care animals and teach kids about the cycle of life. We teach them how to appreciate nature … to show them how to interact, to share, to be gentle, things like that.”
Especially frustrating for Houston is that the goats were taken right after he ran an event for first-graders at a nearby Oakland school who “haven’t been on a field trip in a couple of years.”
“We had a jumper, we had a pig, we had a pony, we had ducks,” he said. “We had the goats and we had them interacting with the children, feeding them petting them, brushing them.”
Houston has received an outpouring of community support after the goats disappeared. He says a veterinarian offered him a goat; the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reached out to offer their services.
And, even though he’s heartbroken by their disappearance, Houston is overwhelmed by the love he’s received during this tough time.
“So many bad things are going on in the world, in Ukraine, you have shootings every day, you have all these sideshows and things. Just a lot of negative in the world. And it feels very good to know that people do care.”
