Goat Fans, Cities
Butting Heads
Herd
the latest?
Miniature goats,
'tame' as dogs,
blaze trails in
U.S.
neighborhoodsLooking for a pet that can live in your urban yard, answers to its name, wears a leash for strolls — and might produce milk you can drink or turn into cheese?
Meet the miniature goat.
That's the case goat fans are making to city officials across the USA. Hillsboro, OR., held three community meetings this year, including one last week, to ask residents whether goats and chickens should be added to a list of acceptable pets. City spokeswoman Barbara Simon says views run "more pro than con."
The Carbondale, IL, Planning Commission was debating this month whether to allow residents to keep chickens when Priscilla Pimentel, a member of the city's Sustainability Commission, added goats to the mix.
"If you can have a 250-pound dog in town, why not a miniature goat that can produce milk?" she says. "It's just common sense." The Planning Commission hasn't made a recommendation yet.
Depending on the breed, miniature goats can grow to about 18 inches tall at the shoulders and weigh up to 60 pounds, says Jim Hosley, who breeds Pygmy goats in Norco, Calif.
"We've usually got a waiting list," he says. "They tame down really fast, and once they're tame, they'll follow kids around like a dog."
His prices: about $275 for a male, $500 for a doe.
Dori Lowell of the National Pygmy Goat Association says that, despite their reputation as voracious eaters, goats are picky about their cuisine and prefer hay. Only unneutered males have a strong odor, and goats can't really bite because they lack upper front teeth. She recommends they be kept in an enclosure that's at least 25-by-25 feet.
Stephen Zawistowski of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it is "cautious" about the urban goat trend. He worries they'll fall out of favor like Vietnamese potbellied pigs have. "My sense is it will get old for people pretty fast," he says, and mini-goats will "end up in animal shelters or rescue sanctuaries."
Jennie Grant doesn't think so. She's a part-time copywriter and mom who collected 1,000 signatures in 2007 to help persuade Seattle to put tiny goats in the pet category. Hers are a cross between Nigerian Dwarf and standard goats. "They're very friendly and curious. They're just funny," she says.
In Portland, Ore., where residents don't need permits to keep up to three goats, Naomi Montacre says they're "really easy to take care of." Nellie, Sebastian and Moon Shark live at her store, Naomi's Organic Farm Supply.
She suggests that anyone considering pet goats get at least two because they are herders and need company, and erect a shelter because they hate rain.
"They really like people and they think you're part of their herd, but they don't need you all the time," Montacre says.
from Associated Press --
A
Western Massachusetts funeral home is trying
"bring life" to business with a chili
cookoff, a murder-mystery show and free limo
rides to couples on their 50th
anniversaries.
Terry Probst, the new managing partner of the Devanny-Condron Funeral Home in Pittsfield, hopes the events will remind people that the funeral home is a center for community life.
He said if customers know that the funeral home also can be the setting for other, happier activities, they might take some comfort in the place later when dark times come.
Among other other events sponsored by the funeral home are an art walk, a visit by the Easter Bunny, and monthly birthday cakes to the Pittsfield Senior Center.
Lost Jewish Tribe Found in Zimbabwe
from BBC News --
The
Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may
look like their compatriots, but they follow a
very different set of customs and traditions
They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of their men wear skull caps and they put the Star of David on their gravestones.
Their oral traditions claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land about 2,500 years ago.
It may sound like another myth of a lost tribe of Israel, but British scientists have carried out DNA tests which have confirmed their Semitic origin.
These tests back up the group's belief that a group of perhaps seven men married African women and settled on the continent. The Lemba, who number perhaps 80,000, live in central Zimbabwe and the north of South Africa.
And they also have a prized religious artefact that they say connects them to their Jewish ancestry - a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant known as the ngoma lungundu, meaning "the drum that thunders".
The object went on display recently at a Harare museum to much fanfare, and instilled pride in many of the Lemba.
"For me it's the starting point," says religious singer Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave.
"Very few people knew about us and this is the time to come out. I'm very proud to realise that we have a rich culture and I'm proud to be a Lemba.
"We have been a very secretive people, because we believe we are a special people."
Religion vs Culture
The Lemba have many customs and regulations that tally with Jewish tradition.
They wear skull caps, practice circumcision, which is not a tradition for most Zimbabweans, avoid eating pork and food with animal blood, and have 12 tribes.
They slaughter animals in the same way as Jewish people, and they put the Jewish Star of David on their tombstones.
Members of the priestly clan of the Lemba, known as the Buba, were even discovered to have a genetic element also found among the Jewish priestly line.
"This was amazing," said Prof Tudor Parfitt, from the University of London.
"It looks as if the Jewish priesthood continued in the West by people called Cohen, and in same way it was continued by the priestly clan of the Lemba.
"They have a common ancestor who geneticists say lived about 3,000 years ago somewhere in north Arabia, which is the time of Moses and Aaron when the Jewish priesthood started."
Prof Parfitt is a world-renowned expert, having spent 20 years researching the Lemba, and living with them for six months.
The Lemba have a sacred prayer language which is a mixture of Hebrew and Arabic, pointing to their roots in Israel and Yemen.
Despite their ties to Judaism, many of the Lemba in Zimbabwe are Christians, while some are Muslims.
"Christianity is my religion, and Judaism is my culture," explains Perez Hamandishe, a pastor and member of parliament from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Despite their centuries-old traditions, some younger Lemba are taking a more liberal view.
"In the old days you didn't marry a non-Lemba, but these days we interact with others," says Alex Makotore, son of the late Chief Mposi from the Lemba "headquarters" in Mberengwa.
"I feel special in my heart but not in front of others such that I'm separated from them. Culture is dynamic."
