Fifteen goats escape into Lynnfield

Five of the goats were corralled by a Lynnfield cop-turned-shepherd.

Fifteen goats from the family-owned Georgetown farm business “Goats to Go,” sent to eat brush and poison ivy for a homeowner in Lynnfield, escaped from their enclosure into the neighborhood on Tuesday.

The goats were completing a job at the end of Bluejay Road when local dogs chased them outside the fenced area.

“Goats are herd animals so they all stay together,” co-owner of Goats to Go Michelle Aulson told Boston.com. “We know they were chased because they were in three different groups, not all together.”

The Lynnfield Police Department recovered five of the goats Tuesday night, but the rest remained missing.

“Those goats are really friendly, so they walked back to the location with the police officers, and they were able to contain them,” Aulson said.

Aulson arrived at the scene that night and with the help of animal control and local residents, called out to the other missing goats for hours. They had no luck.

On Wednesday morning, eight goats were found and brought back to the farm, but the last two goats, Happy and Finny, were still missing.

“Just as we were losing hope of catching the last goat before dark, a neighbor drove into their driveway and her garage at the exact moment our goat, Finny, rounded from the backyard to the front,” Goats to Go posted on their Facebook page. “The garage door closed at the perfect time, capturing him inside.”

The incident was the first time in 12 years that Goats to Go had animals go missing from a job site, according to Aulson.

All 15 goats were successfully brought back to the farm, with a couple suffering minor bite injuries, Aulson said, likely from the dog chase.

“The end thing here that we’re all happy about is just the safety and health of the goats,” Aulson said. “What animals love to do is eat vegetation and enjoy life, so our goats will continue to do that and provide a natural way of getting rid of poison ivy.”