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Date Published: 04/08/2022

Escaped goat runs through Cartagena city centre and smashes through jewellery shop window

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The animal was finally caught after police locked it in the store’s toilet and called for backup from local shepherds

Escaped goat runs through Cartagena city centre and smashes through jewellery shop window

Shoppers and suppers strolling along the Calle Mayor pedestrian street in Cartagena shortly before nine o'clock this Wednesday night were treated to a rare spectacle when they saw a goat appear from the area of the City Hall.

The animal was running loose at high speed between passers-by and customers sitting on the terrace of a nearby bar, pursued by several police officers.

Police sources indicated that they received a tip-off that a goat was running loose on the road, in and out of traffic, and had entered the city along the Paseo Alfonso XIII.

Inesperada visita de un #chivo a la ciudad de #Cartagena motiva sonrisas y expectación a ciudadanos y turistas de nuestra #trimilenaria ciudad. @PoliciaLocalCT @Policianacional han velado por la seguridad de vehículos y espectadores. @AytoCartagenaES #animalsuelto #cabra pic.twitter.com/D1Mo4kXfgQ
— Jose Costa Ros™ (@JoseCostaRos) August 3, 2022

The cops jumped on their motorbikes and turned on their sirens, ready for a high-speed pursuit of the getaway goat.

In its flight through the city, the goat (which was even followed by some electric scooter drivers) ended up running into a local jewellery shop, ‘Io soy joy’, where it burst through a window and broke into the toilet of the establishment.

That’s when officers knew they had the upper hand, and quickly took the initiative of locking the toilet door.

It’s not clear who the goat’s owner is, or what it was doing near Cartagena City Hall in the first place. At this stage police just wanted to capture the animal and keep it – and everyone else – safe.

Once the goat was safely trapped inside his cubicle, police alerted some shepherds they knew who sometimes collaborate with them on cases like this one.

A crowd gathered round the jewellery shop, waiting expectantly for the shepherds to arrive so they could witness the next chapter of the exciting tale of the runaway goat.

Nearby, a young busker was still playing her harp where the animal had sped past just minutes before.

The manager of the jewellery shop, Laura Nicolau, explained that there were seven customers in the shop when the goat came running. And she was grateful that no one was hurt.

“We almost didn’t even see it enter, because it came in very quickly,” she said. “It has very big horns and it’s a good thing it didn’t hurt anyone, especially children, because it hit a glass window very hard and knocked it over. Afterwards, it got into the area where the storeroom is, a patio and the toilet.”

Four officers equipped with riot shields guarded the animal and set up a security perimeter around the establishment, until finally at around 9.30pm the two shepherds turned up. They tied the goat’s legs with a rope and carried it out, disoriented but safe.

This isn’t the first time caprine capers have made Murcia headlines. Just a month ago, there was a mystery in an outlyign district of Murcia city when a goat was found tied to a lamppost one morning, and no one knew how it got there.

Image: Archive

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