Jamaican Herdsman Saves Goat's Life by Giving it Mouth-to-Mouth in Video
CPR is well known for the many lives it has saved. While many of those lives are human, some are not.
Dog CPR. Cat CPR. Some even claim they’ve revived fish through “CPR.” If you catch your critter in time and know how to work with its particular bone structure and respiratory system to give it CPR, it can be a life-saving measure.
Goat CPR is definitely a thing — perhaps even more necessary than other animal forms of CPR because goats are notorious for getting themselves into predicaments. Wily, conniving and intelligent, goats get themselves strung up far more often than you might think.
Holland Homestead Farm is a farm “specializing in handcrafted quality Goat Milk Products,” according to their Facebook page. In 2016, they posted about a near-death instance with one of their goats named Moonbeam.
“So #Goat CPR is a thing that just happened here!” they wrote. “And this little girl is living proof it was worth all the efforts!”
“Moonbeam strangled herself in a fence. I found her lifeless with a blue tongue hanging out. I am so surprised & grateful she rallied!”
If you own animals and care for them, and especially if that’s your livelihood, you probably won’t hesitate to go mouth-to-nose with your farmyard critters when it’s their lives on the line. This concern for animals is the same no matter where you’re from, as one man from Jamaica recently illustrated.
This particular farmer — named Rowe, according to the Jamaica Star — has been in the business for 30 years, and has at least 70 goats. While they are a source of food for him, he still names every single one and keeps a close eye on them, treating them like his “children.”
The video shows Rowe’s herd taking off down the street, but when he approaches a trio of goats, it’s clear something is wrong. Two goats are dragging a third, their ropes entangled, and Rowe rushes to catch up with them and stop them.
“When I pull the rest from One, I realized she was close to death,” Rowe said. “The rest of goats saw the danger and I told them to wait on me so they wait while I bring back One to life.”
The goat in peril, named “One,” had been strangled, and as the farmer cut them apart, it was clear that One was not in good shape.
Losing no time, the farmer started performing CPR on the goat, breathing into its nose and then compressing its side, until the goat gave a short bleat.
Despite the sign of life, One was not quite out of the woods yet, so Rowe continued giving the goat CPR until it stumbled to its feet and then walked to catch up with the herd.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rowe has done goat CPR more than once.
“This is about the third goat I have given CPR, so this no new [thing] for me,” he told the Jamaica Star. “I remember one of my goats was in labor and the kid just wouldn’t born. So I had to insert my hand and deliver the kid. What I did last Thursday was nothing out of the ordinary for me.”
Over the years, Rowe has learned much about his herd and picked up a few tips and tricks along the way.
“I had a goat whose belly was ripped out and she was pregnant,” he said. “I removed the kid and sew up the mother and get her back to perfection. When you have animals, you have to treat them like family and I do my best to ensure that they are okay, although I grow them for ‘eating.'”
Though his methods may draw some criticism, Rowe is insistent that his husbandry practices turn out healthy, well-behaved goats.
“Is just yesterday (Thursday) the one name Trouble decides to cross the road without my permission,” Rowe said. “So I gave him a spanking and let him know that he shouldn’t do it again. If you deal with your animals like they are your children, they will obey you because they are very sensible.”
“There are days when sometimes I will hear the teachers raising up the children and ask them why they can’t be obedient like the goats who listen to me,” he said. “They even line up at the pedestrian to cross.”
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