Rosie's Story
Rosie is an eight-year-old Guernsey cream goat who has had regular visits from Jeremy the podiatrist. Mum Carol tells her story:
"We managed to persuade Rosie's previous owner to let us have her, after six months of badgering, on November 28th 2008. Her home had been an open barn of rotting hay. She would watch out for us to come with a few treats and to give her fresh water. She was unable to walk because her hooves were like Aladdin's slippers. She got around mostly on her knees.
"We had no idea about keeping goats but I just knew I wanted her. I researched as much as I could and we built her a lovely shed with sleeping quarters and a hay rack. We have a small paddock where she could come out but she rarely braved it. We had some help with her hooves from people we knew who kept goats but we were not making much headway and didn't know what to do. We didn't seem to be making any headway after a certain point and we didn't want to hurt her. She is the sweetest goat and has a lovely temperament. I am very fond of her.
"Early last year I took the photographs you see here to show Jeremy. He kindly said he would come and look at her and assess what needed to be done and has been coming every two months since then. As you can see he has worked wonders and has almost got her hooves back as they should be. She now comes out happily every day (as long as it's not raining!) and wanders about in the paddock. It is wonderful to see her with a big smile on her face. In the evenings she is more often than not standing beside me as I get fruit and veg ready for their tea (we adopted a retired pygmy goat called Chloe a few months after Rosie came as company for her). We just can't thank Jeremy enough for the help and relief he is giving Rosie."