A Warning About Dehorning (more than a funny rhyme)

Here is my PSA for the year: Mama, Don't Let Your Goats Grow up to Have Horns.

Meet Cletus, an adult goat who was recently dehorned. He lost his horns because he was using them as quite violent weapons to enforce his will upon other animals--horning them forcefully in their face and abdomen and causing injury. He had already torn horses' nostrils open and it was only a matter of time that one of his jabs to a dog or pig's (or our daughter's) stomach caused serious injury. They had to go.

The decision to dehorn him was not made lightly but after several weeks of trying to find a management plan for him that did not involve permanently locking him in a pen alone, I called the vet and scheduled a dehorning---thinking it a simple procedure because after all, I could technically buy all the dehorning tools myself in any farm supply catalog.

Well, Cletus will tell you that getting dehorned as a fully grown goat is quite possibly one of the worst things that could happen to him.

Why?

A goat's horns are actually an extension of their frontal sinus cavity--ie the open space above their eyes in their forehead that functions and feels just as ours do. As the horn grows on the outside, the "root" of that horn becomes larger inside as well. When his horn is removed, there is literally a giant hole that goes into his skull---in fact, when a goat breathes directly after dehorning, air whistles right up that hole. Vets ask you to do it after the flies die in the fall because of the danger of maggots hatching in the sinus. It's beyond gross.

His horns also have a full network of veins, arteries and nerves....in fact the main nerve to the horns is actually an extension of the orbital nerve that connects the eyes to the brain. In fact due to the extreme sensitivity in that area, my vet will not dehorn an adult goat unless it is fully anesthetized because he has seen them die from the pain and shock the procedure. He also requires a full regimen of painkillers post-surgery. Contrast that to the fact that yes, I could technically have bought the supplies (surgical wire to saw the horns and a cauterizing iron to seal off the arteries) online and done this myself...sans any drugs.

I did not know these things before I did it and if I had, I never would have inflicted that kind of pain upon an animal...not even on the days when Cletus was being his worst. I have never in my life seen an animal in so much pain both following the procedure and for a full week after and I feel profoundly guilty. It's been awful and his recovery will take months...he literally has to grow new parts to his skull to cover those holes.

And so I want to tell people who get a new, cute baby goat to please DEHORN THEM YOUNG!

When they are babies, it's as simple as a little chemical or cauterizing agent to kill off the horn growth cells. It doesn't hurt much (comparatively), it's not invasive and it's DONE. Pet goats (and really any goat) don't need horns--if they learn how to use them, like Cletus did, they present a real danger to other animals and yes, people. Give them the chance to live a trouble-free life for themselves and others.

So please, Don't Let Your Goats to Grow Up to Have Horns!

(and yes, in the 10 days since Cletus lost his horns, he has received extreme babying and lots of love, good food and drugs to help him feel better...and he finally does!)