Tucker’s Thomas Family Farm members have lost a member of their beloved menagerie, a 60-pound Nigerian dwarf goat named Clementine, whom they believe was stolen on a stormy March 15 evening.
Bill and Megan Thomas, whose eight-acre farm on Idlewood Road includes chickens, dogs, goats and sheep, has long been a destination for animal lovers. The couple has always welcomed visitors to the farm for a friendly encounter with their two- and four-legged pets. But that may all change soon with the disappearance of Clementine.
“We are absolutely heartbroken over this,” Megan said. “It’s so sad, but we feel like we are now going to have to make it so the goats are no longer accessible. We are scared these people are going to pick them off one by one.”
Clementine, a rare, blue-eyed, fully brown dwarf goat, holds a special place in the Thomas family’s hearts. Three years ago, they took in a nanny goat, unaware that she was pregnant. On Christmas Eve, the goat went into labor, but the three babies in her womb were breach.
Bill and Megan manually turned the kids in utero, saving their lives, as well as that of their mother. Clementine was the first of two healthy kids, “coming out with a mouth like crazy,” Megan said, but unfortunately, one of them was stillborn. Clementine’s sibling later died of a heart attack during a thunderstorm, which, according to Thomas, is fairly common.
Clementine became a farm favorite, a sweet goat who let people hand feed her, and was the “prissiest” of the nine other goats on the farm. Along with the rest of the flock, she bonded with a sheep named Goose, who was particularly protective of her. That is why the Thomas’ feel that Clementine was stolen, rather than wandered away.
“Goats always stay together,” Bill said. “If one gets out, the others naturally follow. And we checked every part of the fence and there was no breach, fallen trees or holes where the goats could escape.”
In talking to police, Megan said that the most logical theory is that Clementine “became someone’s dinner or has ended up in someone’s freezer.”
“We are so sad, just because so many people just loved her,” Megan said. “So many families made it a daily ritual to come to the farm, feed the animals and visit.”
She said the other animals are feeling the pain of Clementine’s absence, especially Goose, who is “just not right.”
“He is walking in circles, acting very funny,” she said. “I really think he is looking for her.”
In the meantime, the couple is trying to find solace in their other farm animals. Their Maran chickens just started laying their brightly colored eggs, which the couple sells when available.
This is the second high-profile pet abduction in the Tucker area in the last two years. Jasper, a tiny terrier, disappeared during last July’s city fireworks celebration, never to be seen again, although the owners adopted Jasper’s doppelgänger from a county shelter.
Anyone with information about Clementine’s whereabouts can contact the Thomas Family Farm on its Facebook page.
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