People who don't have animals or who are not very close to their animals are always surprised by the strong emotions that creatures such as goats can display. It often comes as a shock to people that goats form lasting friendships and can experience emotions such as grief and sadness.
I have seen both of these in our own herd - one example when my dear Fremlin was only a youngster and his best friend Shaggy died. Shaggy was seriously ill but our veterinary surgery was so busy that they could not send a vet out to see him. My only chance was to take him to the surgery. So, we loaded him into a trailer and drove a few miles to the surgery. He died there later that afternoon.
Poor Fremlin had seen his friend being taken away but he never returned home. He didn't know what had happened to him. Although he had other male goats for company, he wandered around bleating pitifully, calling for his friend Shaggy. He would not eat and was thoroughly miserable. This went on for just over 3 weeks but, with a lot of attention and coaxing, eventually he seemed to come to terms with it and started to settle down again.
When my dear Fremlin died last year, his close friend Beamish was still working with the girls and was unaware that Fremlin had died. That evening, I took Beamish into the shed where we had Fremlin so that he could say goodbye to his old mate. Beamish sniffed at him, looked up at me and bleated and then walked away.
The more time you spend with animals, the more you recognise and feel their emotions. Sometimes it's truly humbling.
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