Police, animal control officershope to catch loose animals
By:Roger Alvarado
Township police say they’ve had nothing but "ba-a-ad luck" while trying to catch three goats that have taken up residence in Hillsborough and remain on the lam after eluding capture for more than a week.
Lt. Paul Kaminsky says the department remains on the lookout for the horned threesome, which has been spotted along East Mountain Road, Murray Drive and Starview Drive, but said that as of Tuesday no arrests had been made.
The department initially received a report that three lost sheep were roaming the area, but photographs and first person accounts have proven that the animals are, in fact, long-haired goats, Lt. Kaminsky said.
East Mountain Road resident Dorothy Mears first spotted the furry visitors on the morning of Dec. 1.
"I was sitting at a table near the back of my house and something caught my eye," Ms. Mears said. "I thought they were sheep because their hair is so long, but they were goats."
After calling around and finding out that no one from her neighborhood was missing the animals, Ms. Mears says she called the police.
"Later that day while I was working on my computer when I noticed St. Hubert’s (the township’s animal control service) come with blankets looking for an enclosed area to entice them into," Ms. Mears said.
Police did temporarily manage to corral the animals while waiting for St. Hubert’s to arrive, but to no avail, Lt. Kaminsky said.
"They took off into the woods prior to their arrival," Lt. Kaminsky said.
For Ms. Mears, this wasn’t the first time that uninvited guests have turned up on her or her neighbors’ properties.
"I was one of a couple families that had the bear two years ago," she said. "It stopped at the pool next door and sat under my apple tree and ate apples."
In fact, in her 35 years of living at her residence, she’s seen a group of skunks (who haven’t been seen or smelled since the mid-eighties), ground hogs and 42 wild turkeys walk onto her or her neighbors’ properties.
Police say they have yet to identify where the animals came from, are going or whether they’re just lost.
"We have not been contacted by local farmers and residents in the area," Lt. Kaminsky said. "It appears that they might have been around the mountain area for a while, but we have had no report on them before."
Lt. Kaminsky says police remain vigilant and urges anyone who comes across the goats to contact them, so they can try to get them into the paddy wagon.
"If you see them give us a call," he said. "We’re periodically monitoring this situation."

