Maine Goat Rescue Owner Says Animals May Lose Their Home

A Kennebunk woman who has spent nearly a decade using goats to clear invasive plants says the future of her animals is now uncertain after receiving a violation notice from the town.

WGME 13 is reporting that Heather Lombard owns Scapegoats, a business she started in 2016 that uses goats as a natural alternative to chemicals and machinery for clearing unwanted vegetation.

For years, Lombard says her herd of 18 goats has been used throughout the community to help manage invasive plants in an environmentally friendly way.

More recently, Lombard also opened Mousam Misfits Sanctuary, a rescue for pigs and goats that otherwise may not have a safe place to live. She says the goal is to give animals a peaceful home where they are not at risk of being euthanized or mistreated, the news station reported.

But earlier this month, Lombard says she received a certified letter from Kennebunk’s code office ordering her to remove the goats and pigs from the property immediately.

According to WGME, the town’s code office had previously approved the animals being housed there back in 2016. However, she says the issue came up again after she applied to build a shed for the rescue animals.

Lombard says the current code officer visited the property and told her the animals were not allowed to live there.

She is now appealing the violation, but says she remains unsure what happens next. Lombard says she has been left in limbo, not knowing whether the certified letter must be acted on right away.

Jessica Morgan, who also helps care for the animals, says she worries there is no realistic plan that would allow all of the goats and pigs to survive if they are forced to leave.

WGME reported that it reached out to the Kennebunk Code Office for comment but had not yet received a response.