Goat Mimics Man Yelling for Help; Prompts Police Action

An irate goat was mistaken for a man by Tennessee police when they responded to a “man screaming for help” call earlier this week.
Goat Mimics Man Yelling for Help; Prompts Police Action
(VICTOR DRACHEV/AFP/GettyImages)
4/4/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

An irate goat was mistaken for a man by Tennessee police when they responded to a “man screaming for help” call earlier this week.

Putnam police, however, showed up and only found a goat named Charcoal. A worried local thought that the goat’s cries were that of a man trapped under a car screaming for help, according to the Metro.  

A dispatcher also said they heard screams that “sounded like a chimpanzee” before police were sent out.

“We have to take all calls seriously,” Putnam County Chief Deputy Jacky Farley told News Channel 5. “They decided the sound saying it sounded like someone was dying or saying ‘help,” he elaborated.

When they arrived, they found Charcoal tied up to a post and screaming.

Carlos Mendez, who owns the goat, told News Channel 5 that Charcoal is used to being around other goats.

“He’s used to being with the other goats and we separated him, I guess he didn’t want to be alone so he wanted to get back with the other goats,” he said.

Deputies Will Page told the Herald-Citizen that he spoke with Mendez, “who stated that he was going to take care of the goat. We then returned to the complainant and notified her that everything was OK.”

Police told WSMV TV that it was the second time that locals have mistaken a goat’s cry for a human.