Brew Pub Hosting Fundraising Event For Beloved Goats In Wheat Ridge
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - If anyone loves goats, it's Amanda Weaver. She has a special place in her heart for a new, small herd on her 13-acre urban farm in Wheat Ridge, 5 Fridges Farm.
"Oh they're awesome! They're just fun. I mean, who doesn't love goats?" she told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "They're just lovable, curious and so smart."
Four young goats -- affectionately named Simon, Garfunkel, Arlo and Willy – recently joined Amanda's farm thanks to donations from the community.
"I also had some other farm owners who had some animals offered them," she said.
The generosity comes after five of Amanda's goats were apparently stolen around Christmas. Despite search efforts by Wheat Ridge Police, Amanda and many people around the city, the goats were never found.
"Everybody was just brokenhearted because they knew these animals and they knew the program," Amanda said.
Amanda's old herd was well-known around Wheat Ridge. They're the friendly group of goats the city enlists to graze on overgrown grasses and invasive weeds that grow in difficult areas to mow.
"This started as a crazy idea," Amanda told a crowd watching her goats grazing in Lewis Meadows Park in 2017.
The crazy idea has captured the hearts of many people, especially families in Wheat Ridge, and the community doesn't want to see it disappear along with the goats. That's why a local brew pub is hosting a "Goat Fund Me" this weekend.
"Colorado Plus came to me and said, 'We want to make a beer for the guys you've lost and do a fundraiser for this project,'" Amanda said. "It's a way to introduce everyone to the new herd and pay homage to our guys we lost."
Amanda said money raised will help buy GPS collars for her new herd – not only in case the animals disappear, but so the community can track where the goats are grazing around the city.
"My hope is that people will be able to see pictures or maybe dogs of where the goats are on my website," she explained.
That way, Amanda said, people will come to love her new herd as much as she does.
"I feel like the team is trained and ready to go for summer," Amanda said. "They're great."
The Goat Fund Me event at Colorado Plus Brew Pub in Wheat Ridge is Saturday, April 27 beginning at 11 a.m.
LINK: 5 Fridges Farm