Tim Horton's goat was kidnapped, says U of S rodeo team

A goat whose weekend ended with an “arrest” in a Martensville Tim Hortons was allegedly kidnapped from a nearby rodeo.

RCMP were called out to remove the disobedient “kid” who was taking a nap in the entrance of the restaurant after wandering through it’s automatic doors early Sunday morning.

The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Rodeo Team said that before the Timmies run, the goat named Goliath had been taken from the U of S Rodeo hosted in the community over the weekend. The Rodeo included a cabaret on Saturday night and team member Katie Dutchak said they noticed Goliath’s absence as they were cleaning up at the end of the night.

“(We) noticed there were only two goats there instead of three,” she said, adding they quickly became suspicious.

“Goats will chew through almost anything. But there would have been remnants of a leash or a collar or something of the sort if it had gotten out. Goats are also companion animals so they will do their best to stay with another animal if possible.”

Dutchak said that if Goliath had become free on his own it’s much more likely that he would have stayed near the hundreds of horses or his best friends and fellow goats Sparkles and Billy the Kid.

“He certainly wouldn’t have been able to make his way into Martensville into the Tim Hortons,” she said. “That’s sort of what’s given it away for us.”  

Goliath has quickly made headlines across the country for his determination to get his Timbits and a nap but Dutchak wants to remind people that he is also livestock allegedly stolen from rodeo grounds, and that is a serious matter.

“We are very protective of our animals and we treat them with the most respect we can, they are athletes to us as well. For someone to take that was definitely a serious matter to us,” she said.

“We are very happy it ended how it did but it just as easily could have had a different ending and a not-so-happy ending.”

If rodeo contestants were the culprits, Dutchak said there would be serious disciplinary action but she is encouraging anyone with information to contact the RCMP or the U of S Rodeo Team.

Goliath will now be making his way home to the Lakeland College in Alberta but after his weekend exploits he’s likely the most famous goat in Canada.

“We are all just kind of a bit speechless that a goat is famous and that it’s getting a lot more publicity than any of us,” Dutchak said with a laugh. “We can’t really believe that a goat is spreading through Canada right now.”