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Photos taken 10 September 2007, South Australia. Mouseover for description; click for a closer look. Beautiful, aren't they? These goats are lucky enough to be owned by my friend Leesa, who lives in South Australia. But not all Leesa's goats are so lucky. Leesa, who is a quilter like you, had to shoot and bury five of her beloved goats last weekend, because there is simply not enough feed for them. Well, to tell the truth, there is plenty of feed, but a lot of it is being exported overseas to fatten foreign race horses owned by rich people, while the price of hay in the severely drought-affected areas of Australia goes up and up. And people like Leesa and her neighbours are quite literally dying because of it. Only last week there was yet another farmer in Leesa's area who killed himself because he couldn't cope with the stress of not being able to feed his family. Leesa told me there is a funeral every ten days in South Australia due to drought-related suicide. The only way Leesa, a single woman surviving on a pension, has been able to keep her goats (well, some of them), is because she has been getting support and help from others. Leesa herself has been very unwell, partly through having to eat a very meagre diet in order to be able to feed her goats. Leesa also has a blog you can visit - http://adoptagoat.blogspot.com/ You might be wondering why she bothers. Well, these are not ordinary backyard goats. Nor are they pets, although Leesa loves every one of them like a child. Leesa has a strong background in genetics research, and has used this training to selectively breed dairy goats over many years. These goats are among the mothers and fathers of the goats the commercial dairies use to produce high-quality goat's milk. Goats milk is an important part of the diet for many people. My own daughter was unable to drink cow's milk when she was a baby, as it made her very sick. After holidaying with someone who had a goat, her health improved dramatically, and I sought goat's milk for her when we got back home. She hasn't looked back, and is now a strong, healthy 14-year-old. But without breeders like Leesa, the dairy goat industry would not be able to source the high-yielding goats they need to produce milk efficiently. (A "normal" goat will produce about 4 litres of milk a day - Leesa has carefully bred hers to produce up to 12!!).
Silly G-Fer (as in "G for Goat") got herself stuck in a tyre a couple of weeks ago. She is very pregnant, but Leesa managed to get her free with the help of some neighbours. I have re-named her The Goodyear Goat! What can you do to help? There are a number of things you can do to help not only Leesa but many other small farmers around Australia. The obvious one is to give money! But there are other ways to help too. Write to your local federal member, and urge them to increase the financial support to struggling farmers. There are a huge number of people, including Leesa, who are not eligible for the current support that is available, because they are receiving government pensions or other payments. Leesa doesn't make much money from her goats, so her goat income doesn't affect her pension payments, but it is important that she and others are supported so the good breeding stock is still there when (if!) the feed prices come back to a reasonable level. Also, you can urge your local member to prohibit or curtail hay exports. How would you feel if your children were starving while the food was all being sold to fat foreigners? That's how it feels to Leesa. The federal government also needs to be encouraged to look carefully at just who is getting the funding that is being handed out. The recent horse flu outbreak has put a temporary stop to horse racing in Australia. The federal government has been very quick to hand out money to those financially affected by it. But I have not yet heard of any funerals as a result of horse flu. Not even one horse has died from it, let alone any horse farmers. Of course, the government knows that to support the racing industry will earn them taxes, and also assuage their guilt over the quarantine procedures that appear to have started the problem. Don't get me wrong - I certainly don't hope there are any deaths of either horses or horse owners as a result of the flu, but maybe the government needs to look more carefully at the funding priorities. Who is more in need of help? Someone who will be out of work for a few weeks, or someone who has had no income for a couple of years and has no likelihood of an income in the near future, and who is considering suicide? Leesa also has a blog you can visit - http://adoptagoat.blogspot.com/ OK, I will calm down now! <G> The other, more practical and immediate, thing you can do to help is to give money to Leesa to support her goats. Leesa has told me some time ago it costs $1 per goat per day to feed the goats (although that was when hay was only $50 a bale - it used to be $30 - and it is now $110 to $180, when she can get it). Leesa also runs a very successful dairy goat association, and her members are also in desperate need for financial support. If you would like to send money to Leesa via PayPal, please use this button: If you prefer not to use PayPal, you can donate money to Leesa via credit card here. I have put the donation amount as $1 ($Australian). To change this, please change the quantity. For example, to donate $20, change the quantity to 20. This money will be sent to Leesa by Gecko Gully. Thank you, and thank you from Leesa, and thank you from "my" adopted goats LS and Mary, and from all Leesa's other goats, and from all the farmers who are struggling to keep their lives going as best they can. Christine Abela. |
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.gif "G-Fer (not adopted yet)")
.gif "Joylene (not adopted)")
.gif "Pawnee (not adopted yet)")
