Happy, healthy goats make money for their business owners and provide entertainment and companionship for their hobby owners.
Any responsible goat owner will tell you that taking proper care of their goats and making sure they are healthy and happy is their top priority. If you own goats you know that often they get fed before you eat. Goats are individuals. They aren't cattle, sheep, dogs or cats and they have unique individual traits and needs that require attention if they are going to be treated properly, in a way that does not stress them. This is something that many members of popular "rescue" groups do not understand.
Goats are herd animals. While they are curious and may wander off from the group to explore something interesting, they prefer being in groups. The worst possible thing someone can do is keep a goat away from other goats, or in the absence of goats, other compatible animals. People who want pet goats need to understand this and it is always best that if they want a pet to get it very young so it will be more comfortable socializing to people. Rescue groups needs to be educated to the fact that removing a goat from a herd it identifies with is cruel and unusual punishment for the goat and can stress it to the point of illness.
The American Goat Federation encourages all goat owners, as well as others who are interested in goats to follow several basic principles of assuring goat well-being. AGF encourages each member organization to develop their own principles of goat well-being. The American Dairy Goat Association has already done this.
