A 15-year-old autistic Kilkenny teen has been left devastated, after three baby pygmy goats were stolen from his family farm.
Francis Nesbitt had uploaded a picture of the cute little animals that belonged to his son last week.
But within 48 hours of the post, the goats had been nabbed.
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Francis's son had been gifted a pair of breeding goats for an early Christmas present last year.
The nanny goat gave birth to healthy triplets; two females and a male.
Francis posted about the babies on social media - only for them to be taken overnight two days later.
Francis explained to Agriland: "They’re so easy to pick up. They spend most of their time sleeping. They’re only a couple of days old and they huddled together.
"My guess is that whoever came into the place to lift them, they might have got a few spits off the alpacas, but it would have taken just minutes to lift them and put them in a bag.”
Francis's son is "devastated" by the incident, but there are other consequences for the mother of the triplets.
Francis explained: "My main worry now is about the mother. She's distressed and bleating to try and call them back constantly.
"You just don’t ever imagine that there are people trawling social media looking for photos like this so that they can go in and opportunistically steal young animals. To take three two-day old kids from their mother, it’s just abhorrent.”
You can read the full interview with Francis here
Gardai in Thomastown are investigating the suspected theft and anyone with any information is being asked to call Thomastown Garda Station on (056) 775 4150 or the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111.
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