A LOVE of goats has won a 12-year-old Wyndham Vale boy an award as a long-time volunteer.
Luke Kapp, a grade six student at Iramoo Primary, was among hundreds of volunteers recognised last Tuesday by the Wyndham City Council.
The young man has looked after Iramoo Kindergarten’s pet goats since he went there seven years ago.
He is so devoted to the animals, as soon as he received his award, he and mum Faye drove to the kinder to check on them.
“I like animals and I want to be a vet,” he said.
Luke either rides his bike, walks or gets a ride to the Honour Ave kinder a few times a week to feed the animals treats, change their water and make sure they’re OK.
The purebred British Alpine goats – an adult female named Mikah, her three-month-old twins, Millie and Magnus, and twin one-year-olds, Lucy and Lily – are part of a program that has been running at the kinder for more than a quarter of a century. Its long-time and well-loved director, Dale Finn, introduced the idea a few years after she started in 1974.
“It’s always been a kinder with a bit of a difference,” she said.
In past years, the goats have even won awards at the Royal Melbourne Show.
The kinder has also sold eggs from chickens it had previously to buy puzzles.
It is now developing a natural bog at the rear of the kinder for frogs and turtles. “We like to think we link the children with the country, because after all, this was a country area,” said Ms Finn.
