Primary school 'devastated' by suspected theft of kid goats

Two miniature goats suspected stolen from Baranduda primary school In short: Two miniature kid goats have gone missing from a primary school during the school holidays. Staff at St Francis of Assisi Primary School have ruled out an escape and suspect the goats have been stolen. What's next? Police are investigating and anyone with information is asked to come forward. Teachers at a north-east Victorian primary school are appealing for help to find two missing classmates — miniature kid goats suspected stolen during the holidays. The goats, lovingly named Blackberry and Thorn by students at St Francis of Assisi Primary School, disappeared from their paddock at the Baranduda school sometime between Sunday and Monday afternoon. Cattle and goat club teacher Suzie Patrala said the goats were just four months old, and the students had been bottle-feeding them twice daily. "We're very devastated that the two have gone missing," Ms Patrala said. "Our out-of-school-care program has been going down every day to feed them and to play with them, and they discovered two were missing." Ms Patrala said it appeared the goats had been stolen. "We have assumed and hoped they had escaped, but no, they have their own pen within a locked paddock," she said. "Goats are great at escaping, and it's well and truly secure for them not to escape. "And obviously we've done a very big search around the local area." The school also has two guard alpacas named Bruce and Terry, which have previously killed foxes, ruling out predation. The primary school runs a cattle club with Dexter cattle, giving students the opportunity to participate in local agriculture shows. The school started a goat club so younger students could learn how to care for smaller animals. Bring back our goats Ms Patrala said the students and families were upset to hear the news, and urged anyone with information to come forward. "If someone does have our goats, please care for them because we care for them a lot," Ms Patrala said. "They are still babies, they still need to be bottle-fed once a day. "If you could bring them back to our school, back to our little community, that would be very, very, very much appreciated." Ms Patrala described Blackberry as completely black and Thorn as black with long grey ears and some grey through the coat. Victoria Police have been informed of the incident and the school urged anyone with information to come forward.