You may have heard of therapy dogs, but Sergeant Daniel Fitzpatrick has a new suggestion: Therapy goats.
That’s because Fitzpatrick, 39, just so happened to befriend two rowdy, but friendly, goats this past weekend while responding to a call while on duty in Belfast, Maine.
“We got a call from a woman that said she had some goats in her garage,” Fitzpatrick told TODAY. “I get over there expecting full-size goats, and instead I got these two little tiny things.”
It turns out that these two goats had wandered up to the woman's house and decided to stay after discovering (and devouring) cat food. The woman didn’t want to let them get away for fear of them getting hurt, so she closed her garage door and called the police for assistance.
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After getting the goats in custody, Fitzpatrick decided to post a photo on the Belfast Police Department’s Facebook page in hopes of locating the owners.
While the police department isn’t really equipped to house goats, Fitzpatrick made sure to keep the duo as comfy as possible in his patrol car.
“The one slept and then other just went from window to window bleating,” said Fitzpatrick. “Fortunately I had some vegetables that I’d taken for myself, and I kind of felt bad so I stuck them through the divider in the back of my car.”
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“The goats loved it,” said Fitzpatrick. “They were having a great time — the small one kept sticking his head through the divider and licking my ear.”
The joy ride with the police eventually came to an end when the goats' owners saw the Facebook post and came to claim their missing animals. Fitzpatrick finally learned the names of his new friends: Lewis and Mowgli.
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“I wish I could always let them ride around with me — they’re great company,” said Fitzpatrick. “Therapy goats in the cruisers for everybody would work wonders.”