HappyNew Year 2008 from GetYerGoat!

Staying home with the goats tonight and wouldn't have it any other way ;) ..
Hope you all stay safe and have a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

If you have not already gotten your 20098 Goat Calendar.. now would be a good time to get one- All Goat Calendars in the GetYerGoat Goat Gift Shop are on sale until midnight central time Wednesday Jan 3, 2008

Stay Safe and don't drink and goat..

hugs goatlady

DOC To Wipe Out Historic Arapawa Goat Population

Department of Conservation (DOC) plans to kill rare goats on Arapawa Island next month have sparked outrage.

Betty Rowe, who runs a 120ha wildlife sanctuary on the island, in the Marlborough Sounds, said the goats were unique.

She said the last time the Forest Service tried to eradicate the goats, 60 supporters came to the island to stand between the shooters and the goats.

Opposition to the three-week cull is mounting with the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) calling for a halt to DOC's "extermination mission".

The Rare Breeds Society of New Zealand opposes the destruction of the goats, and a plea is being made from the United States to stop "the senseless killing".

Peter and Lori Corriveau, from New Hampshire, who have nine Arapawa Island goats, contacted The Press saying there were only 500 left in the world and called for the cull to be stopped.

However, DOC says it is not trying to wipe out the goats, and the shoot to control their numbers to protect rare coastal vegetation had been carried out for 20 years.

The department's threats programme manager in the Marlborough Sounds, Phil Clerke, said two shooters would hunt the goats only on DOC land on the eastern side of the island.

Some private landowners in the northern part of the island were also happy for the hunters to shoot goats.

Clerke said the hunters killed about 400 goats last year, raising questions about low estimates of their numbers.

Clerke said DOC's role was to conserve native species and plants, and Arapawa Island had one of the few remaining examples of Cook Strait coastal vegetation.

But supporters of the goats say the animals are just as rare as native species.

They are believed to be descended from those brought to the island by early settlers or Captain James Cook.

Rowe said the goats had been DNA-tested and a geneticist from the University of Cordoba in Spain had found in October that they were unique.

Rowe said the cull was an "overkill" and said he had unsuccessfully appealed to work with DOC.

"It is DOC's policy not to have anything that is introduced," Rowe said.

"It is almost like they hate the goats because they are an introduced species.

"These are unique and it could be a feather in DOC's cap, but they won't budge.

"It's beyond my comprehension, and with new Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick on board it's not a good look to her portfolio to destroy something that is unique."

Chadwick declined to comment.

The NZDA called on the Government to recognise the rare historic breed under the Rio Convention on World Biodiversity.

Rowe said the former farm land at East Bay was now full of regeneration despite the goats.

She estimated there were up to 200 goats on the island.

Last year a Takaka man was fined $500 under the Wild Animal Control Act for shooting 10 goats at the sanctuary.

Read More about this wonderful goat:
Arapawa Goats in the USA

Arapawa Goat Breeders - USA

DOC set to wipe out historic Arapawa Goats after Xmas - Reconise them instead

New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association (NZDA) has joined the Rare Breeds Society of New Zealand in opposing DOC's proposed destruction of the unique Arapawa Island goat breed, early in the New Year. The Arapawa Island goats are a recognised unique breed, almost certainly released there by Captain James Cook on 2 June 1773 - see attached info from Cook's Diaries. Only a few are left now.

"It is distressing that DOC had chosen the holiday period to carry out a Search and Destroy mission on Arapawa Island with the intention of wiping out this historic herd" NZDA spokesman Dr Hugh Barr said. "New Zealand's historic introduced biodiversity is as important to us as our native biodiversity, under the Rio Convention on Biodiversity" Dr Barr said. "It is the basis of our agriculture, the industry on which most of our wealth as a nation depends. Very few native species have commercial value."

"Yet we have the Department of Conservation, paranoid about exterminating anything introduced to the country, irrespective of the Rio Convention on World Biodiversity that New Zealand is a signatory to. If the Kaimanawa Wild Horse herd can be recognised, then surely DOC has a duty to reconise this rare herd, now extinct in England" Dr Barr said.

NZDA is calling for the Government to halt DOC's extermination mission, and give due recognition to the very high historic significance of this rare breed, and as well, recognise them under the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. News Story

Cafepress Goat T-shirt 48 Hour Sale-Goatitude Adjustment Tees

Huge Savings for Last minute Goat Christmas gift giving!
Rock bottom pricing for this design - "You need a Goatitude™ Adjustment" T-shirts both the light goat t-shirt and the dark goat t-shirt.
Hurry because this sale is for 48 hours ONLY.
Starts Monday morning, Dec 17th at 8am central time and ends Wednesday morning. Dec 29 at 8am.

This cool goat t-shirt is perfect for the sarcastic goat owner who has a great sense of humor and needs to let others know in a nice way to get an attitude adjustment.. goat style..
The Light T-shirt is $17.99 and the dark t-shirt is $21.99- Save now..
Goat Humor tees for a 48 hour sale for cool Goat Christmas Gift giving.

Goat Care Safety: Warning for Using Tarps

As hard as we all try to make sure our adorable goats are safe and sound- we all make mistakes- sometimes these mistakes can be fatal..such as the one I made 2 days ago. It cost me the life of one of my most precious angora wethers, Cupid.

This is the post I made to warn my list members on my yahoo group goat lists:
If anyone here is using tarps as a light rain/sun shade for the goats to be under for added protection from rain or sun- Take them down if you are expecting snow/ice! Even if you have an extra twine support under the tarp for added strength! Last night one of my shade/rain tarps broke.. I had it supported underneath with twine from kitty corner to kitty corner.. my last goat yard check was 1:30am to make sure all were fine.. the tarp in question was only 15 feet from my kitchen window I (thought) it would support the light snow we were expecting.. and was angled so that one end was down low and the other end up high so any snow would slide off.. It didn't I lost a wonderful little angora wether named Cupid where the snow covered tarp broke the grommets and fell smothering him underneath.
Please don't make the same mistake I made. While this offered a neat place for the goats to be and stay dry as an extra non confined area.. it became his grave I hope this message saves a life. a broken hearted goatlady

I had taken a photo of the tarp the day before this tragedy happened:.
and now have it marked with explanations of where I had moved the high and low sides to be safer and allow the light expected snow to slide off (I thought). While it worked fine for a shelter from the rain and sun, it unfortunately did not hold up under even a light snow. The grommets themselves broke, trapping my precious Cupid underneath. A hard lesson to learn. I have since (yesterday) spent time taking this tarp and 2 cattle panels to make a quick additional shelter that WILL hold up under the weight of snow. We had 6 to 7 inches of snow last night and this held up well- always remember when making these to have a high enough pitch to your cattle panels!

If this post saves but one little goat- Cupid's death will not have been for nothing. Cupid was a lovable little wether and the only grandson of my late AngelFace- they both are romping Over Rainbow's Bridge with all of my other beloved goats over the years.
God Bless all who have written to me and sending their heartfelt sympathies.. I love you all ! May the rest of our Holiday winterness be safe for everyone and all the goaties and critters.
goatlady
Who has learned a very hard lesson

Cafepress GetYerGoat Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Our last Free Goat Goodies Contest Winner of 2007 ~ Anna Warner
Anna sent in the winning slogan for our newest Goat Yard Sign:
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goatnight
we added the design and it makes a very cute Goat Yard Sign just (barely) in time for outdoor Christmas decorations! Buy it Here

Make sure to sign up for our GetYerGoat Newsletter and grab some cool sales for our GetYerGoat Members ONLY .

Friends of GetYerGoat 24 hour Sale Goat T-shirt

We randomly feature one of our GetYerGoat goat merchandise at lower than low pricing several times during the month, and give our Friends of GetYerGoat 24 hours to grab some of our most popular goat merchandise at rock bottom discount prices. It's GetYerGoat's way of saying thank you to all of our Friends!
The perfect goat t-shirt for all of us Stay at Home Goat Moms- a clever twist on the SAHM- Work at home? Stay home with the goats? This is perfect for you SAHGM & Proud of it. $22.99
Grab a few for Christmas Gifts, for a special lady or for yourself!

GetYerGoat™ has expanded to Zazzle and Printfection

Why did we decide to expand some of our most popular designs to more than one GetYerGoat™ Shop?
Because each company offers different products for me to design and more goat products for you to choose- Different colors, different styles and different products. All designed by GetYerGoat™
Eventually we expect to have most if not all of our goat designs in all shops.. if there is something you find at our huge goat gift shop at Cafepress and do not yet see it at our Printfection goat gift shop or our Zazzle Goat Gift Shop Please let me know which one it is and I will see to it that I get that goat design placed in that shop for you.
email me at GetYerGoat@Goat-Link.com

Zazzle Shop-20% Off GetYerGoat Mugs, Calendars, Posters, and Cards

All qualifying calendars, greeting cards, note cards, mugs or posters must be purchased to qualify for this 20% discount offer. The discount will be deducted from your shopping cart subtotal. Offer is valid from November 30, 2007 at 11:59pm (PST) through December 12, 2007 11:59pm (PST). This promotional offer does not apply to framed prints. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer.

GetYerGoat At Zazzle- Sale and FREE SHipping

GetYerGoat Gifts AT ZAZZLE

20% Off Mugs, Calendars, Posters, and Cards

All qualifying calendars, greeting cards, note cards, mugs or posters must be purchased to qualify for this 20% discount offer. The discount will be deducted from your shopping cart subtotal. Offer is valid from November 30, 2007 at 11:59pm (PST) through December 12, 2007 11:59pm (PST). This promotional offer does not apply to framed prints. Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer.

Free Shipping on your order of $75 or more! Use code: FREESHIPMORE

To qualify for this free shipping offer, one or more Zazzle products must be purchased with a subtotal greater than 75.00 dollars (excluding shipping and taxes). The coupon code FREESHIPMORE must be entered during checkout to receive the offer. The free shipping offer is for ground shipping to U.S. addresses only. Shipping charges will apply to orders being shipped on an expedited basis or outside the U.S. Offer is valid from November 29, 2007 at 11:59pm (PST) through December 10, 2007 at 11:59pm (PST). Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer.

Free shipping on all orders - NO MINIMUM

Get free shipping on your orders placed on Thursday (12/6) - 24hrs only!

To qualify for this free shipping offer, one or more Zazzle products must be purchased. The free shipping offer is for standard shipping to U.S. addresses only. Shipping charges will apply to orders being shipped on an expedited basis or outside the U.S. Offer is valid from December 6, 2007 at 12:00 am (PST) through December 6, 2007 at 11:59 pm (PST). Your order must be placed during that time to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or discount offers.

Goat Gift for Him (or her) - Goat Breed Belt Buckles

Goat Breed Portrait Enamel Belt Buckles $17.99

Nubian Goat Belt Buckle | Boer Goat Belt Buckle | Angora Goat Belt Buckle | Oberhasli Goat Belt Buckle | Pygmy Goat Belt Buckle |LaMancha Goat Belt Buckle |Pygora Goat Belt Buckle |Toggenburg Goat Belt Buckle |Saanen Goat Belt Buckle |Alpine Goat Belt Buckle

Here is a small example of the goat breed belt buckles we have:



Belt buckles measure 3" x 2" and fits up to a 1 1/2" belt strap in width. Made from zinc alloy with crystal clear enamel coating over images. These make a perfect goat lover's Stocking stuffer gift for Him or Her.
Don't See YOUR Breed? Let us know and we can add it to the collection! Makes a cool 4H gift for Christmas too. Goat Gifts for Christmas are the thing to give this year!

Goat Gift Special Blog Reader Sale!

Featured 1 Day in store Sale Goat Gift for Dec 1,2007 thru Dec 2, 2007!
GetYerGoat™ Goat Gifts Blog Will feature 1 day special sales for our blog readers as an appreciation sale from GetYerGoat™
Many of these 1 day sales will be at cost just to say Thank YOU!
(In Store Sales CAN Be used with Coupon codes and Free Shipping Offers!!!)

GetYerGoat™ Members ONLY Rock Bottom Priced Blog Sale! 1 Day ONLY! Grab this funny goat t-shirt at the Low LOW Price of ONLY $16.99!
(This sale is good until 11:59pm Central time December 2, 2007)

The Little Voices in my head Keep telling Me- Get More Goats
Funny Goat t-shirts Goat humor on goat gifts for the goat lover in all of us- cool gifts for you goat ladies.
It makes a wonderful Christmas Gift or Birthday Gift or All Occasion Gift for any goat lady in your group.


Other colors available:
Click to Buy!
A Great Gift for her.

To take advantage of our goat merchandise discounts simply sign up for our GetYerGoat™ Members ONLY Club Newsletter below to become a GetYerGoat™ Members ONLY Member and receive our monthly money-saving discounts on a large variety of unique goat products.
Our Members ONLY Newsletter contains the link to our discounted products exclusively offered to GetYerGoat™ Members ONLY Club
Members.

Free Shipping on orders $50 or more
Coupon code: JINGLE50
Starts: December 1, 2007 at 12:01 am PT
Ends: December 2, 2007 at 11:59 pm PT
Hurry! This sale is only for 2 days ONLY!