Tink, the baby goat, granted permission to join new family in Lowell by city planning commission

By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald — Tink, a 7-week-old Nigerian dwarf goat, is expected to move from a Dexter pasture to her new home in Lowell later this month.

Permission was granted by the three-member planning commission Wednesday night during which no one showed up to object to issuing a special needs conditional-use permit for Tink to join three Border Collie dogs at the home of Tim and Jessi Osborn.

“Tink will be coming home by Aug. 20,” Jessi said after the hearing. “She will be bonding with the dogs and will be fed special food, including quality hay like alfalfa, supplements and grain for goats.”

Tink, named after the fairyland Tinker Bell, will run in a yard surrounded by a 6-foot cattle fence and will eat from a forage garden in which specialty goat food will be raised.

The permit was required because the baby goat, more commonly known as a kid, suffered back and leg injuries during birth and requires special care. The permit also was required because the Osborn property falls below the required half-acre requirement for such an animal. It also spells out health and sanitation standards that must be maintained.

One letter of support, which was read during the hearing, noted that Nigerian Dwarf goats grow to 17 to 19 inches in height, weigh up to 50 pounds and “are good at removing brush.”

The permit was approved by Chairman Lon Dragt and commission members Suzanne Kintzley and Mary Wallace after hearing a staff report and recommendation read by City Administrator Jeremy Caudle.

Jessi, a yoga teacher and massage therapist, learned about the kid’s plight from a customer.

“I’m a sucker for animals,” Jessica confessed during an earlier interview. She estimates that she’s rescued and returned as many as 100 dogs to owners during her stay in Lowell.

As a child, she dressed up one of her grandmother’s cats in clothes and now envisions moving to larger acreage so that she can increase the menagerie.

Tim’s okay with Tink.

“I was a military brat,” he said, “and while in Central America, I had a pet monkey named Bo Bo.”

So, he said, it’s no big deal if a goat named Tink joins the family.