A mountain goat, somehow finding itself stuck under a Kansas City bridge, has endured a dramatic rescue effort and now stands on the brink of a possible reunion with its owners, who suspect it was taken from their farm two months ago.
“It’s a story that really touched the hearts of Kansas City,” remarked Tori Fugate from the KC Pet Project, a nonprofit responsible for animal control in the city. “Move over solar eclipse, we were all about goat watch.”
Following Monday’s eclipse, bystanders spotted the animal, believed to be a missing goat named Chug, hopping around on the bridge’s pillars high above the ground. In an attempt to guide it to safety, a driver managed to loop a rope around the goat’s neck, inadvertently increasing the risk, according to Fugate. When firefighters attempted to descend the bridge’s side to capture the goat, it became spooked and attempted to leap to the next platform. Unfortunately, its hooves slipped, and the rope snagged, leaving the goat suspended from its neck.
Firefighters quickly worked to release the goat from the rope, allowing it to fall up to 15 feet to the ground below, where crews had laid padding to cushion the impact, Fugate explained.
A veterinarian on standby sedated the goat, and teams carried it in a sling to the top of a rocky hill, where it received oxygen from firefighters. Despite the ordeal, the goat showed remarkable resilience, even undergoing X-rays which revealed no broken bones, Fugate revealed. She emphasized that the goat’s climb along bridge supports, some as high as 80 feet above the ground, would have been fatal if it had fallen.
This incident was just the latest twist in the goat’s adventures. Originally brought to the shelter as a stray on March 13 and given the name Jeffrey, he was later adopted in the same month. However, he promptly escaped his new home by jumping the fence, Fugate disclosed.
“Thanks to his newfound fame, we received a call yesterday from someone who believes he closely resembles their goat that vanished in February,” she said.
The family, residing two hours away, plans to visit the shelter on Wednesday to verify if the goat is indeed their missing Chug. If confirmed, they intend to take him back home, a decision that the goat’s current adoptive owners support.