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North Saanich goat cuddler ad shepherds in thousands of volunteers

Alisa Howlett/News staff
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Alisa Howlett/Peninsula News Review Alan Mayfield of Victoria Lavender Farm holding his newborn Nigerian dwarf goats wearing custom pajamas. Mayfield was surprised by the number of responses he got on his Facebook post seeking volunteers to cuddle his goats.

Alisa Howlett/News staff

Want to cuddle a baby goat? Well get in line. That’s what Alan Mayfield of Victoria Lavender Farm in North Saanich is now saying to anyone who asks.

It all started when one of the goat mothers suffered a mysterious broken leg and would not be able to care for her newborns. Mayfield made a Facebook post seeking volunteers to cuddle his newborn Nigerian dwarf goats.

“Socialization and affection is most important for them as most of the baby goats are later sold as pets when they’re older,” said Mayfield. “The more nurturing the better.”

After someone shared the ad online, he was bombarded with offers. Within a couple hours he received 255 inquiries from potential volunteers. By day’s end, he had 4900 volunteer applications.

“Maybe making a Facebook post wasn’t such a good idea,” Mayfield said.

Since Mayfield only needs volunteers for around four weeks, or until the goats are weaned, he has arranged for 50 volunteers to cuddle the goats. So far he has had around 19 volunteer goat cuddlers.

“You can already notice it’s working. They are less shy, more gregarious,” he said. “They just like to jump and play tag all day long and they’re cute as buttons. And they’re the dickens to catch, like kittens covered in motor oil.”

Although Mayfield’s farm in North Saanich is open to the public on weekends, there’s another opportunity for people to interact with the baby goats – goat yoga or as it’s affectionately called, goga. And it is exactly what it seems like – yoga with goats. In the coming weeks Mayfield is opening up his goat paddock and, for a price, offering Hatha and Vinyasa classes from professional instructors among the goats.

And like the goat cuddler ad, the goga Facebook page has been met with extreme popularity with over 18,000 views.

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Alisa Howlett/Peninsula News Review These are just a few of the baby goats (with their mother) who need volunteer cuddlers.
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Alisa Howlett/Peninsula News Review Alan Mayfield of Victoria Lavender Farm holding his newborn Nigerian dwarf goats wearing custom pajamas. Mayfield was surprised by the number of responses he got on his Facebook post seeking volunteers to cuddle his goats.