Back to the Farm

Seattle has made it official: city dwellers can bring a bit of the farm to their urban homes by keeping goats as pets. What's also nice is that the goats provide milk from which some great cheese can be made, and can help city kids appreciate where food comes from.

Supporters of the new law aren't stopping there - Jennie Grant, president of the Goat Justice League, which has 100 members, sees potential for Seattle to become much more pastoral by allowing additional minianimals. "We would be a really charming city if we were a place people could keep minifarms with chickens, goats, a vegetable garden and fruit trees," she said.

I've only interacted with goats via petting zoos and on a mountain hike in Canada many years ago, where their most memorable interaction was trying to eat anything and everything in, near, or around me. Their persistence was charming for a time, but I think I'd go nuts having to deal with it every day. Even though they don't provide fresh milk, I'll stick with the dog, cats, and fish...