Consternation on Facebook Wednesday: a goat is dying in the City Park zoo and no one is doing anything! A little later, some visitors manage to get over the high fence of the zoo and remove the lamb. Alderman Stijn Adriaensens tells the story.
“The lamb was born prematurely. That is why it was rejected by the mother. Our services take good care of the animals, but had not yet noticed the lamb. Some people with big hearts took care of the lamb. We condone the fact that they got over the fence to do this.”
The ‘perpetrators’ who saved the goat. — © RR
The alderman contacted an animal shelter on Wednesday evening, but it was already closed. “Ils Geysmans from Gierle (Lille) caught the animal and brought it to the Venhei veterinary center in Kasterlee on Friday morning. It is still there at the moment and is being cared for. The lamb is doing well. Someone has offered to take in the animal and even adopt it. That seems to us to be the best solution for that lamb.”
“If we were to harm the welfare of the animals, a city would also be dealt with for that. That is not the case”
Stijn Adriaensens (N-VA)
Alderman for Animal Welfare, Turnhout
Adriaensens denies that the animals in the City Park are neglected. “It is true that the meadow is swampy and there is a lot of mud where people feed the animals. The park has been inspected and quality checks are carried out regularly. If we were to harm the welfare of the animals, a city would also be dealt with for that. That is not the case. We are considering making it clearer who can be called if an irregularity is discovered and have been planning stricter police regulations for some time now, to prevent people from feeding unwanted items such as orange peels to the animals. It is better not to put the goat with the goats all the time.”
Liv
The people from Schorvoort who had taken the lamb away could not keep it in their house, because there were two large dogs running around there. “I noticed the commotion on Facebook during the evening and I contacted Stijn Adriaensens,” says Ils Geysmans. “I wanted to help the animal through the night, even though I know little about goats. I called Venhei’s emergency number and they told me what to do to keep the lamb alive.”
Ils Geysmans was able to help the prematurely born and rejected lamb through the night so that it continued to live. — © Guy Van Nieuwenhuysen
The people who brought the lamb had stopped at a pharmacist along the way. They had a baby bottle, a syringe, milk powder and a mixing cup with them. “I stayed with the goat all night. It had to be given something to eat every hour and a half.”
Ils was able to keep the animal alive. The vet confirmed that it is in good health. “We’ll keep it here,” the vet said. That hurt for a while, because she is such a sweetheart. But it definitely ends up in a good place. The daughter of the people who saved the animal is called Liv. I promised her that I would ask the mayor to give the goat her name. Hopefully he can convince the new owner of this.” (gvn)