A small ranch in Shawnigan Lake is seeking help from the public, collecting donations to aid a rare hairless baby goat recently abandoned by her mother.
On Monday, Conny Rohr of Maple Heart Ranch set up a GoFundMe to raise $10,000 to provide “Precious” with the needed necessities after she was born last Friday, April 29th.
“We thought [she would] not survive, as her mom didn’t take her on. But we tried anyway, as she seemed to have a very strong survival instinct,” said Rohr.
After calling a veterinarian, Rohr and her partner Gary took Precious into their home, bottle-fed her and made sure she was kept cozy and warm.
But with that comes extra expenses, explains Rohr.
“This sounds simple, but not if you have to run the generator to have power or keep the fire going to have the house warm,” she said.
“One of us has to stay with her 24/7 as she needs to be fed every two hours, day and night.”
@mapleheartranch Our furless baby goat got born April 29th. #furlessgoat #precious #homesteading
According to Rohr, they have to keep the generator running all day and night plus have one person constantly on watch.
They’ve also had to purchase new clothing, diapers, puppy pads and a cage for Precious and must save up for special creams to protect her skin.
But that’s not all.
“She will not be able to stay outside with the other goats, so this means we have to have a special shelter or addition to the house for her, in the future, which is heated and insulated,” according to Rohr.
“Costs [are] comparable to having a human baby, which we don’t have planned in our budget,” she added, noting her own recent personal injury as an added challenge.
“We try to be as self-sufficient as possible on our homestead and sustain our day-to-day bills to take care of all our animals in the best way possible, but now with the extra expenses and the limited workforce, we do need financial support.”
You can donate to Maple Heart Ranch’s GoFundMe online here.
“Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated,” said Rohr. “Please share to help spread the word.”
