Sally the pet pygmy goat is back at base after runaway adventure
The hunt for Sally the missing pygmy goat in Bearna came to a very happy ending on Friday last when a neighbour of her owner spotted the runaway animal on a rock in the sea, not far from her home in Furrymelia.
Owner Daragh Ó Tuirisg told the Connacht Tribune her return was hugely welcome after a week of searching that got the support of countless people from Bearna and neighbouring villages, and had him standing in fields at half five in the morning rattling buckets of feed.
In the end, it was the eagle eye of neighbour Claire Connolly that brought Sally home.
Just off Bóithrín Thomáis, Claire spotted the goat on a rock – since christened ‘Cloc an gabhair bhig’ – with the tide in around her.
After hearing from Claire, Daragh made his way out and attempted to bring Sally home, but not unlike the process of finding her, there was nothing straightforward about her rescue, as he explains.
“Claire rang me and said she’d spotted the goat from her father’s house. She thought it was a dog at first, but was wondering why he wasn’t swimming in. Then she got the binoculars out and could see it was the goat.
“When I got down, I could only look out at her because the tide was in. It was quite deep where she was, so I went back and got a pair of runners and a life vest. The tide was going back out when I got back, so once I knew there was a bit of a causeway, I went out after her,” says Daragh, who was joined in his rescue efforts by local vet John Mulligan.
Not content with having had them searching for a week, Sally decided she wasn’t ready for home yet and leaped from the rock, heading further out.
“I knew it was too deep where she was then, but she eventually jumped back off that rock and came back to where she was originally. Then she went into a little bay area and it was there I got her out,” continues her relieved owner who says if nothing else, it was a bit of laugh.
Sally is one of five goats at the Ó Tuairisg’s and her return was met with delight from Daragh’s two daughters, Emma and Leanne, and his wife Marie.
That’s not to mention the puck, who’s thrilled to have Sally back home, laughs Daragh.
Now considered a flight risk, Daragh says he’ll be keeping a close eye on Sally as she settles back in, having had half of Bearna looking for her for over a week.