Freshman Cristi Fisher, 14, may be too young to be a veterinarian, but she’s proved that she’s old enough to save an animal.
It was while she was attending the Oakland County Fair a while back that Cristi had her first encounter with ‘Gert the Goat,? a name she gave him because she liked how it sounded and ‘Billy? was too common of a name for a goat.
‘He started nibbling on my hair,? she said, adding that it was that experience that made her first recognize and remember Gert.
Later in the day, Cristi attended the live animal auction with her sister and saw that Gert was not only being auctioned off, but he had been sold to a butcher as a market goat. She soon learned that being slaughtered was in Gert’s future.
Cristi couldn’t stand the idea of it, so she called the butcher to see if she could buy Gert back from him. Originally, she was told no and that ‘they don’t do it.?
After a little persistence, she convinced the butcher and was told that if she could raise $200, he would make an exception and allow her to buy the goat back.
So Cristi set to work with the assistance of her friend, Morgan Cullen of Shelby Twp., going around both of their neighborhoods and selling ‘goatmeal? cookies, their version of oatmeal cookies.
Within three days, the girls had raised the necessary money and Cristi put a call back into the butcher.
‘I think he didn’t think I would be able to raise the money,? Cristi said, adding that the butcher was very surprised to hear that she had indeed raised the $200 he requested.
Cristi, with the help of her mother, Lurene Fisher, borrowed a truck and made the hour-and-a-half drive to pick up Gert.
‘We got a lot of funny looks driving along Telegraph,? Lurene said, adding that they had put Gert in one of their large dog kennels, in the back of a truck, to transport him home.
For the past few weeks, Cristi has been researching about goats in order to correctly care for Gert, while the family has stored the goat in a large cage-like area in their garage.
She has been putting her future dreams of living on a farm and being a veterinarian to good use, nursing Gert through a cough (and giving him his cough medicine) and helping him gain 15 lbs.
In between feeding him and cleaning his cage twice a day, Cristi was also making phone calls to find a new permanent residence for Gert.
After calling over 20 farms, both close-by and a couple hours away, Cristi found a home for Gert at Blake’s Orchard and Petting Farm in Armada. He will be taken to his new home within the next week or so.
Cristi likes that Gert will be at Blake’s, being that he will still be close by for a visit, plus he will be around people, claiming that rather than being a people’s person, Gert is a ‘people’s goat? and that he really likes to play games and be around kids.
When Paul Blake, owner of Blake’s Orchard, got the call from Cristi about Gert, he said that it was a ‘pretty neat thing? that Cristi was doing, and it was impressive to see a kid that would ‘go the extra mile? to take on a responsibility like this.
Blake is not the only person that is impressed by Cristi’s initiative.
‘She’s a very determined young woman,? Lurene said. ‘Her dad and I are very proud of her for doing it.?
For those that are interested in visiting Gert for themselves, Cristi has made her a special red/pink collar that she has been told that Gert will be allowed to continue to wear while at Blake’s.