Guest Columnist
I am one of many urban homesteaders in Carrboro. I grow produce in my side yard, and raise chickens, ducks and goats in my back yard. I use wood chips supplied by my neighborhood arborist to keep animal spaces clean, healthy and free of odor, and compost the spent chips for my garden.
Over the course of seven months, my two backyard fainting goats have reduced decades of overgrown ivy and honeysuckle to a non-invasive status. My partner and I chose fainting goats for their gentle, non-climbing reputation.
If it weren't for our forthrightness, most people, even adjacent neighbors, would never know that we have goats. They stay quietly content in our backyard jungle. Our doe kidded in July, and although she is not a dairy breed, she does provide us about 1 cup of sweet milk a day.
Goats have been allowed in Carrboro for decades. On Aug. 25, the Board of Aldermen voted to change the tract requirements for having two adult fainting goats from 40,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet, still over half of an acre.
Earlier that day a flyer circulated throughout my neighborhood. Using alarmist language, it attempted to incite outrage at this change. Mayoral candidate Bryan Voyce and Board of Alderman candidate Sharon Cook spoke against the amendment and brought up points that were outlined in the flyer.
Bryan Voyce contended that goats harbor disease and pose a threat to public health.
Goats are vulnerable to disease, like all animals, but keeping two small goats on a private lot poses little threat to public health.
A goat specialist at N.C. State Veterinary School said the most common ailment they treat are worms. It is rare for diseases to be transmitted from goats to humans, and those that do occur, such as brucellosis and TB, are only transmitted through the consumption of raw milk from an infected goat.
Since the amendment requires that the permitted goats be kept "only for residential purposes and only for the consumption of persons who reside at that lot," brucellosis and TB would pose no threat to the public.
The N.C. Division of Environmental Health states: "Rabies in livestock is rare; historically they are infected with the raccoon strain of the rabies virus."
According to the 2006 N.C. Rabies Report: "Two of 67 cattle submitted for rabies diagnostic testing in 2006 were identified as positive. No rabies cases were identified among the following animals: alpaca (1 submitted), donkey (3 submitted), horse (59 submitted), goat (33 submitted), llama (6 submitted), swine (3 submitted), sheep (10 submitted)".
Although licensed rabies vaccines are available for sheep, horses, and cattle, these animals are not required to be vaccinated by law; no such vaccine exists for goats.
To understand the hyperbolic nature of Voyce's claims, consider that Maple View Farm's Learning Center, the N.C. State Fair, Spence's Farm and the Museum of Life and Science all have hands-on livestock with hand sanitation areas, and are among the most popular attractions for children in our area.
Most parents in our community understand the importance of having children outdoors and in nature. In fact, studies have shown that children's immune systems are compromised when they spend more time in sterile environments than in nature.
Cook seemed confused about the nature of the ordinance. She seemed to think it would "allow farm animals on urban properties" rather than merely tweak the lot size for doing so.
She soon strayed off on a tangent, arguing over her pet issue that the town should allow apartments in the University Lake watershed. Her motive for speaking seemed more to be contrary than to offer anything substantive on the issue.
Voyce and Cook seem determined to stop any kind of green progress in our town, be it small livestock or community gardens. They have shown a consistent pattern of opposition to whatever actions Carrboro's elected officials may take.
Most Carrboro residents choose to live here because they value the diversity, sustainability, and progressive values that make this little town so unique. Urban homesteading is part of that charm and is a rising trend as towns from Portland to Austin to New York revise animal control ordinances.
I am thankful that the Aldermen have kept Carrboro on the forefront of that trend.
Marianne Prince lives on a small plot of land in Carrboro that she calls Quite Contrary Farm, which she shares with her fainting goats, Bubba and Neemaw.
