Primary school 'devastated' by suspected theft of kid goats
Teachers at a north-east Victorian primary school are appealing for help to find two missing classmates — miniature kid goats suspected stolen during the holidays.
The goats, lovingly named Blackberry and Thorn by students at St Francis of Assisi Primary School, disappeared from their paddock at the Baranduda school sometime between Sunday and Monday afternoon.
The goats are cared for by students as part of the school's "goat club". (Supplied: Jordan Hoban)
Cattle and goat club teacher Suzie Patrala said the goats were just four months old, and the students had been bottle-feeding them twice daily.
"We're very devastated that the two have gone missing," Ms Patrala said.
"Our out-of-school-care program has been going down every day to feed them and to play with them, and they discovered two were missing."
Ms Patrala said it appeared the goats had been stolen.
Blackberry has gone missing from the primary school. (Supplied: Jordan Hoban)
"We have assumed and hoped they had escaped, but no, they have their own pen within a locked paddock," she said.
"Goats are great at escaping, and it's well and truly secure for them not to escape.
"And obviously we've done a very big search around the local area."
Students practise leading and judging at school. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)
The school also has two guard alpacas named Bruce and Terry, which have previously killed foxes, ruling out predation.
The primary school runs a cattle club with Dexter cattle, giving students the opportunity to participate in local agriculture shows.
Students listen to their teacher before presenting cattle. (Supplied: James Hopson)
The school started a goat club so younger students could learn how to care for smaller animals.
Bring back our goats
Ms Patrala said the students and families were upset to hear the news, and urged anyone with information to come forward.
Thorn has white ears. (Supplied: Jordan Hoban)
"If someone does have our goats, please care for them because we care for them a lot," Ms Patrala said.
"They are still babies, they still need to be bottle-fed once a day.
"If you could bring them back to our school, back to our little community, that would be very, very, very much appreciated."
Ms Patrala described Blackberry as completely black and Thorn as black with long grey ears and some grey through the coat.
Victoria Police have been informed of the incident and the school urged anyone with information to come forward.
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