But the idea of keeping goats in the backyard as a source of organic, low-food-miles milk has not gotten the attention it deserves. In this video, Mateo Rutherford of Berkeley, CA, shows us the backyard goats as well as more of their urban farm animals (chickens and rabbits) and we talk to a visitor who is preparing to adopt a few milking goats of her own.
The Goat Justice League of Seattle was founded to legalize keeping goats within the city of Seattle. The league’s founder Jennie Grant argues that since modern factory farming is cruel, polluting and produces eggs, milk and meat that are likely less nutritious and more prone to contamination, “why not let people with yards keep dairy goat does or wethers [castrated males]. They are not smelly. Their poop is a valuable fertilizer. They eat invasive plants and make delicious milk.”
Thanks to the groups’ efforts, in 2007, the Seattle City Council passed a measure allowing small goats to be kept within city limits. Grant encourages anyone with a 25×25 foot area within their yard and a desire to take care of animals (“taking care of goats takes work and lots of research”) to consider keeping goats as a source of local food.
In some cities like Berkeley, California, there are old laws still on the books that allow for urban goats. Homeowners Jim Montgomery and Mateo Rutherford decided to take advantage of this 1918 ordinance, allowing for 2 female goats and kids, to add to their backyard garden.
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