CORINTH, Vt. (AP) - State officials are investigating a man whose goats and his religious convictions against killing them have collided in a possibly inhumane and definitely stinky way.
There were three goats on the farm Chris Weathersbee's mother bought seven years ago. Now there are 300 - including 70 living in his house, much of which is covered with a mix of goat droppings and hay.
Authorities last month raided the farm in Corinth, about 30 kilometres southeast of Montpelier, and seized 44 deemed unhealthy by a veterinarian. State police and the Central Vermont Humane Society are weighing whether to pursue animal cruelty or neglect charges.
"He has more goats than he can care for," said Sherry LeMay, the humane society's director of operations.
Weathersbee, 63, admits he cannot afford to give the herd sufficient care, but he refuses to get rid of the animals. He said his Buddhist religious views prohibit him from slaughtering any of the goats.
"Getting rid of goats means killing them," he said.
Weathersbee said he brought dozens of invalid goats and nursing mothers with babies inside his home last December because of cold temperatures.
His only income is from monthly disability cheques, which, he said, he spends mostly on hay at a cost of $150 US a day in the winter. He's in debt $15,000 to his neighbours for hay.
Weathersbee said he wants time to find a group that does not believe in slaughtering animals to take the 12-hectare farm and house. In exchange, he wants to remain with the goats, living in the barns and fields.
