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SALT LAKE CITY— A Washington state man trying to raise money for an orphanage in Kenya says that a police officer and animal control worker set him back this week by impounding his goat in downtown Salt Lake City.
Steve Wescott had leashed the goat, named LeeRoy, outside a bar on Wednesday night. Wescott said he was having dinner at the bar. A concerned citizen called the police after discovering the animal.
"It's not necessarily illegal to have a goat with you in the city limits or walking down the street," said Salt Lake City Police Det. Carlie Wiechman. "Since there was no crime being committed, at that point we turned it over to animal control to have them decide whether that goat needs to be taken or not for the safety of the goat."
Wescott said when he exited the bar near 400 South State Street, he found an animal control worker loading LeeRoy into the back of a van. He admits that he became heated and exchanged words with the officer and animal control worker. In the end, they drove away with the goat.
"I had to go pay to get him out from the animal services, and every little penny counts for me," Wescott said. "In the end, this takes away from the kids."
Wescott reunited with his goat Thursday after paying a standard impound fee of nearly $50 and claims that could have been avoided. He accuses the officer and animal control worker of being rude, but believes the situation could have been handled better by both sides.
"I'll be the first to apologize to the cops, no problem," he said. "I'm not trying to be crusader against ‘the man', I just want to continue what I'm doing."
Salt Lake County Animal Services declined to comment on the situation, but pointed to sections of the Salt Lake City municipal code that say people cannot possess livestock without a permit.
