Five years ago today, this tiny, very sick baby came to Blackberry Creek. He was not #638, he was Forrest, a victim of the dairy industry. Forrest’s story is long and heart-wrenching but to sum it up, he was separated from his mother at birth because he was a boy and boys are of no use to the dairy industry. While his mother was carted off to make goat cheese with the milk meant for Forrest, he was taken to a crowded, noisy, filthy auction, and sold for less than $5 to a man who bought a truck-full of goats to sell for meat. The babies who weren’t sold that day were left in crates in the bed of his truck without milk, without mothers. Most died this way, and the ones who were found were starving and near death. We took three babies from this rescue: Jax, Gerald, and Forrest, but tragically, Forrest was the only one to survive the ordeal. These babies did not get colostrum from their mothers and thus had virtually zero immunity. Infected with salmonella and facing chronic diarrhea, high fevers, dehydration, and pneumonia (on top of their emotional ordeal) Jax and Gerald went septic and could not be saved. Forrest spent weeks at UC Davis where he eventually made an amazing recovery thanks to Dr. Lisa Gamsjaeger. Forrest still lives with some of the health impacts from his tragic start in life including the chronic disease CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis) which he will battle for life. He is exceptionally brave, kind, loving, and protective of his family, having an especially strong bond with Barnaby who he grew up with. We hope Forrest’s story motivates you to ditch dairy and choose plant-based alternatives instead. We highly recommend @miyokoscreamery @sperofoods and @violife_foods as excellent replacements for goat cheese. If you’re ditching diary for Forrest and babies like him all over the world comment below and we’ll tell him! 💕 🐐 #goatsofinstagram #ditchdairy #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuedgoat #goatstagram #goats🐐 #goatlover #goatloversanonymous #goatsofinsta #goatsofig #goatlife #goatworthy #goatgang #notanumber #blackberrycreek #farmanimalsanctuary #rescuestory #loveoneanother #veganfortheanimals #forrestthestrong @nosh.on.plants @nstab6 (at Blackberry Creek Farm Animal Sanctuary) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNBkTl8s9k1/?igshid=bhyfm4mpf9ww