VIDEO: Vancouver Island goat makes trip to Courtenay Winners

COURTENAY (NEWS 1130) – Here’s something you don’t usually see: a goat turned many heads on Vancouver Island Thursday when it walked into a local Winners.

Kyla Cordick was at the store in Courtenay with her mother and sister when the animal strolled in.

“My mom turns around and goes, ‘Girls! Girls! Look! Look!’ We thought it was another dog walking in and we turn around and there’s a big goat walking towards the purses,” she recalled.

The goat, it turns out, is a bit of a celebrity around Courtenay. ‘Billy’ has his own Facebook page filled with photos and sightings from locals in the community.

He was just trying to find fabulous for less! A goat named Billy brought smiles to shoppers at the Winners in Courtenay yesterday after strolling in to check out some purses. “It was cool, you don’t really see a goat wandering around town.”:Karis Cordick @NEWS1130 @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/nkPLwaZufd

— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) September 3, 2021

Cordick says she didn’t know about Billy when she saw him — but did a little research after the fact.

“Someone kept saying ‘He’s famous, it’s Billy the goat. He’s local.’ So I went to the Comox Valley Rants and Raves and typed in ‘goat’ in the search area, and there he was. He was at Walmart eating watermelons in September of last year, he was taking a wander down Kilpatrick in July of this year,” she explained.

However, despite his status, many were still surprised to see him.

“The goat was picking his purse out that he wanted,” Cordick said jokingly, adding “no one really knew what to do.”

Eventually, one of the customers was able to lead ‘Billy’ out of the store, but not before he left a bit of a mess.

“He must of startled him. [Billy] started peeing on the way out. He walked out of the store and I guess he hung out by the front for a bit, and then took a wander over to Walmart,” explained Cordick.

“It was cool. You don’t really see a goat wandering around town to begin with, and then to wander right into a store. It was cool to see.”

It’s unclear what exactly drew the goat into the store. Perhaps he was just trying to “find fabulous for less.”

‘He befriends anybody’

Eduardo Uranga is Billy the goat’s owner. He says they’ve been “friends” since May 2015.

“I love animals, it’s my favourite thing,” he told NEWS 1130, adding he’s had several other animals over the years.

Billy sometimes is able to wander off the property, with Uranga explaining “when I make a mistake, he finds it.”

“He’s really good at getting out, and yesterday was one of the few.”

Uranga describes the goat as “an escape artist.” The Facebook page was created because of the sheer number of times the goat has been able to get out, with people always reaching out to report a sighting.

“He’s so used to people that he’s not afraid of people at all. He befriends anybody. People really like that.”

The pair go on walks together often, and Uranga says they’re both quite close.

Uranga says it took no time for him to find out that Billy escaped on Thursday, adding the RCMP even knows the goat’s story.

“The RCMP once delivered the goat inside the police car. They opened the door and Billy just jumped right in and then they took him back to the farm where I keep him,” he recalled.

“The reason I’m doing this (talking to the media) is because I think it’s important people understand that goats are really, really great animals and if they get out, it’s not because the owner’s not a good person or careful enough. They’re just really good at getting out.”

Goats are very curious, he notes, adding he’s not dangerous at all.

Uranga hopes Billy’s stories will help show people that goats are great animals, and that people should treat them as such.