TAMPA, Fla. — Just days after pirates invaded Tampa during Gasparilla, a much smaller, cuter invasion took place in what the Tampa Police Department is calling "Goatsparilla."
Drivers spotted what was originally thought to be a mother goat and her two kids "wandering toward I-4 earlier this week," the department wrote on Facebook.
That's when the good Samaritans jumped out of their cars to make sure they were kept safe and called police. When officers arrived, the animals were put in the back of a police cruiser — not for "baaaaaaaaad" behavior — but for safety!
The police department said that eventually, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's Agricultural Crimes Unit showed up to help. And now, the animals are "safe and sound with their owners."
"That's what we like to call some 'goat' (good) teamwork!" the department said.
But, since this story has been published on 10 Tampa Bay's website and social media platforms, some people have responded that the animals involved are actually sheep, not goats as the police department identified them as.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to Pat Odor with Boer Goats Ranch, which has been operating since 2005 in Tampa, for some answers.
Odor says he takes after 14 goats, and was confident that the rescued animals in Tampa Police Department's video were actually sheep. He said the shape of the animal's head was a telling sign and also identified its coat as wool — not fur.
Sheep or goat, they're extremely cute, and it's a good thing they're back home and no longer on the side of the road.
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