Yoga Goats, Therapy Goats, Petting Zoos: Ensuring Good Welfare for Animals and People
How to Keep Goats Willing to Perform Animal-Assisted Services
Reading Time: 7 minutes
The last decade saw the birth and rise in popularity of yoga with goats and the inclusion of goats in animal-assisted therapy and education programs. Goats are also popular members of petting farms and zoos. Knowing how interactive and friendly goats can be, it’s not surprising that the public is delighted by the antics of well-socialized goats. Research has even documented evidence of the therapeutic benefits of interacting with goats. New ventures, such as goat yoga and animal-assisted therapy, allow goats to cultivate a positive public image and enjoy roles outside of agriculture. However, like all support workers, we must ensure they have what they need for their own health and welfare. Also, we should choose the right goat for each job.
What If the Goats Don’t Want to Play?
Overlong sessions, fear of strangers and unfamiliar surroundings, separation from mother or friends, hunger, thirst … these are all issues that can cause goats distress in yoga, therapy, or petting sessions. According to research fellow at the University of Melbourne Mia Cobb, an attendee at a goat yoga class reported, “It left me feeling awful for those poor goats, being grabbed at, chased around the room, and cuddled against their will.” Similarly, researchers Fien de Malsche and Leonie Cornips noted that visitors were disappointed when goats didn’t accept feed from them or ignored them at a petting farm. One visitor attempted to force a bottle on a baby goat that wasn’t interested, resulting in upsetting both parties.
However loving our goats normally are, sometimes they have more pressing needs or motivations than interacting with humans. Forcing animals to do things just causes stress (to all parties) and stress puts the goats off participating next time. Moreover, long-term stress is damaging to health and productivity. So how can we ensure that goats stay keen to join in? By recognizing and responding to their needs and socializing them well. In addition, we need to let customers know what to expect and how to approach the animals without alarming them.
Goats’ Welfare Needs
As for all animals, goats’ welfare needs fall into five “domains”:
- correct nutrition,
- species-appropriate physical environment,
- good health,
- healthy behavioral interactions (with humans and other animals), and
- positive mental state.
The emotions induced by the first four domains will feed into a goat’s mental state and produce a positive or negative mood. As long as there are more positive inputs than negative ones, the resulting mood will tend to be optimistic and the animal can be said to have a good life. This is what we’re aiming for as it will increase the chances of our goats being happy, healthy, and interested in the tasks we set for them.
Ensuring Petting Zoo, Therapy, and Yoga Goats’ Needs Are Met
Nutrition
Correct nutrition for ruminants is predominantly long-fiber forage (grass, hay, foliage), while visitors may wish to feed them grain or food intended for humans. Careful establishments ask visitors to leave human food outside the animal enclosure. They may also provide suitable treats while limiting the amount distributed. Of course, more dominant animals will claim the lion’s share. This could easily result in some animals having more than is good for them. Therefore, public access needs to be time-limited, so treats can be interspersed with hay to balance the rumen. Alternatively, I often treat my goats with leafy forage, which is excellent for their health and can be distributed to guests for them to offer.
Animal parks that are constantly open to the public or mix different domestic species put goats at extra risk. I’ve seen goats gorging poultry feed in a mixed pen, while the birds don’t get a look in. In addition, shared water is dirtied through ducks or geese bathing and becomes unhealthy for goats.
Environment
A small enclosure shared with other species is quickly depleted of edible forage or dirtied by trampling, meaning that goats may not be able to gain the bulk forage diet they require. Staff must be careful to ensure hay racks are kept supplied with palatable hay that’s kept off the ground. As goats are active and inquisitive creatures, they need structures that enable them to climb, interact, scratch, butt, and play, as well as places to shelter, rest, and hide when they need some peace. Access to fresh pastures is ideal, but if not possible, access to outdoor play areas is a must.
Health
For routine treatment, as well as for nutrition, the service provider must have relevant training in the care of goats to ensure that they are cared for properly. It’s also important to establish a relationship with a veterinarian.
Behavioral Interactions
Goats are affected by the behavior of other herd members, other animals, and humans. It’s our duty to make sure that these are positive interactions so that goats don’t become frightened, stressed, and unwilling to participate. We can manage interactions with other animals through the design of their accommodation, the choice of companions and neighbors, and the provision of facilities to withdraw to quieter quarters.
All goats need to be thoroughly socialized before starting work. They need to get used to places or equipment where they will do their job. If they need to travel to unfamiliar places and meet unfamiliar people and animals, it’s easier to get them used to this from a young age. It’s also very helpful to train goats in tasks such as being led and desisting from certain behaviors when warned verbally.
Mental State
Not all goats will have the right personality for animal-assisted services. We should select participants carefully and provide more tranquil facilities for those who shun the limelight.
Give Us a Break!
Even the most affectionate and outgoing goats need some downtime and plenty of rest. Sessions should be limited in time and number of visitors. Eva Garaut is a teacher and support therapist trained in equine behavior. She offers animal-assisted therapy and educational visits to her farm animals in France. Only the most outgoing and people-friendly animals accompany her on visits to health centers. Visits are by appointment only and limited to 12 people in each enclosure at a time. She finds the animals avoid larger groups.
When psychologist Ursula Anderson and her team studied the behavior of goats in the Zoo Atlanta petting enclosure, they found that certain “undesirable” behaviors increased as number of visitors rose. These undesirable behaviors are often efforts by goats to avoid the attentions of visitors and include head tossing, head butting, foot stamping, rearing, snorting, and moving away. The researchers set up a visitor-free zone that goats could retire to when they wished. This significantly reduced their resorting to such behavior so that interactions were more satisfying for goats and visitors.
Information Is Key
Customers can avoid disappointment if they know what to expect and how to approach the animals. Before entering the enclosure, Zoo Atlanta staff explain how to approach the goats for petting and ask visitors not to feed them, ensuring they leave all edibles and paper outside. Garaut displays reminders on how to approach the animals and avoid frightening them. I asked her how she deals with a case when an animal is unwilling to interact with a therapy client. She’s careful to explain that sometimes the time just isn’t right for the animals and that another opportunity will be available to the client at another time.
Monitoring Participants
As well as verbal and written information, it’s vital to have a trained staff member on hand to ensure animals and clients stay safe and don’t become stressed. An animal handler must be knowledgeable about species behavior and focused on their individual charges.
If you are providing a service, such as therapy, yoga, or education, it’s easier to have someone attend to clients and another manage the goats. In this way, somebody is always attends animal welfare and potential safety issues while the other concentrates on client welfare and the provision of service.
Continual monitoring of each working goat is necessary to ensure that he or she is thriving in the role and happy with the handler, clients, and place of work. Bad experiences can easily lead to distrust or fear of a situation and a reluctance to work. A bond of trust with a handler who’s sensitive to each goat’s emotions and needs will help to overcome any negatives. These measures will promote an enjoyable and fulfilling partnership.
Sources
- Cobb, M. 2023. Puppy yoga? Goat meditation? An animal welfare scientist explores what these activities might mean for the cute creatures. The Conversation.
- Mattiello, S., Crepaldi, P., and Battini, M. 2024. Where are goats going? The future of goats for farming and other purposes. In The Welfare of Goats. Springer.
- De Malsche, F. and Cornips, L., 2021. Examining interspecies interactions in light of discourse analytic theory: A case study on the genre of human-goat communication at a petting farm. Lang Comm 79, 53-70.
- Anderson U.S., Benne M, Bloomsmith M.A., and Maple T.L., 2002. Retreat space and human visitor density moderate undesirable behavior in petting zoo animals. J Appl Anim Welf Sci 5(2), 125–137.
- Winkle, M. and Johnson, A. 2023. The importance of animal welfare in animal-assisted services. In Animal-Assisted Interventions: Recognizing and Mitigating Potential Welfare Challenges. CABI.
- Eco Ferme Pedagogique de Chambesne/Centre Equi Social
Lead photo by Cottonbro Studio from pexels.com.
