Image

Goat on the lam in Petrolia makes social media splash

May 4, 2017

There was a rather unusual shopper in Petrolia during the annual yard sale.
Shanan Bowen and her daughter, Kate, were heading home after helping the Lambton Young Theatre Players with a yard sale on Howlett Lane when they noticed something standing in the middle of Petrolia Line.
“There was a goat in the middle of the road between Home Hardware and Coffee Lodge,” she tells The Independent.
“It was just standing there in the middle of the road looking at the traffic.”
The goat made its way to the plaza, peaked into the physiotherapy office, walked past M&M’s and head butted the windows at Coffee Lodge and then jumped into its patio area.
“Being from a farming community, I didn’t really think it was so unusual; we do see deer in the country,” Bowen says.
“I was  thrown by the fact it was in the middle of the road and it seemed funny.”
Bowen got out her phone and took some photos.
They aren’t as good as she would like but she didn’t want to get too close. “I was worried someone was going to be head butted because they’re pretty destructive critters.”
Bowen isn’t sure what happened to the goat. “There were people trying to catch him but he was that tricky – he is a wily guy.”
Bowen did learn a little bit about its history after posting the photos online.
A woman from Watford was one of the people who saw the pictures on Facebook and wrote it had been her goat.
“We brought him home being told that he wouldn’t jump our fence and he did,” wrote the Watford woman.
“So, we built a fence that was eight-feet tall and he then again jumped it.
We found a new home for him in Forest.”
How the goat made it to Petrolia is unclear but Bowen says since posting the photos – which have been shared over 200 times – she’s heard the animal has been spotted in Petrolia before by school children.
Shortly after the sighting, the Town of Petrolia posted its animal control bylaw on Facebook saying some animals are categorized as livestock and are not permitted in some areas.
“Please be sure that before welcoming any domestic, exotic or livestock into your home, that you are familiar with these regulations.”

Share This

Image
Front Page

Thedford EMS changes years away

June 15, 2025

The Independent Thedford residents won’t be losing their ambulance station for some time. That from Lambton County officials. Last month, Lambton Shores councillors voiced concern about a county plan which would close the Thedford station and have Forest paramedics to cover their calls. Lambton EMS also plans to move the Grand Bend station near Pinery Park hoping to provide better

Read More

Image
Front Page

No ATV rally for Petrolia Ag Society

June 15, 2025

The Independent There will not be ATVs rumbling through Petrolia this summer. Kelly Humphrey of the Petrolia Enniskillen Agricultural Society came to council in mid-May asking if PEAS could host an ATV rally with Greenwood Park as a starting and finishing point and using Petrolia streets to get to the starting and finishing point.  Julie Bullock, director of parks and

Read More

Image
Front Page

Fair banner may not fly

June 14, 2025

The Independent The Moore Agricultural Society has some big plans for the 175th anniversary of the Brigden Fair. But not all of their plans may work out. The ag society has asked for and received several approvals from St. Clair Township council for special events at the landmark fair including allowing a low-level Canadian Armed Forces Flyby and helicopter landings

Read More

Image
Front Page

Remembering Newell Hastings

June 14, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Sunday, Newell Hasting’s service to King and Country over a century ago was remembered in a peaceful church cemetery near Watford. Hasting was born in Petrolia and his family moved to Watford around the turn of the century. He signed up to serve in the miltia with Watford’s 149th Battalion before being called up for service. He

Read More