Goat gets lost on the 5th floor: How did the animal get up there?

By Emilio Rappold

Madrid - Firefighters in Madrid have rescued a goat that had strayed onto the outside windowsill of a fifth-floor apartment.

The Spanish fire department rescued this goat in Madrid, which had somehow found its way onto the windowsill on the fifth floor of a house.
The Spanish fire department rescued this goat in Madrid, which had somehow found its way onto the windowsill on the fifth floor of a house.  © Feuerwehr Madrid/dpa

The action in the south of the Spanish capital not only caused a stir among neighbors, but also online and in the media. "Surreal operation" was the headline in the newspaper "El Periódico", while the digital newspaper "El Confidencial" spoke of a "mystery" and reported on "totally baffled neighbors" in the Villaverde district.

As the window in front of which the animal was sitting was closed and the apartment was unoccupied, a rescue operation was launched from the balcony of the neighboring apartment.

A video posted by the fire department on Facebook shows the firefighters using a stretcher to build a kind of bridge between the windowsill and the balcony wall.

The firefighters are careful not to frighten the animal. Using carrots and lettuce leaves, they apparently succeed in gaining the goat's trust. After a while, the animal suddenly climbs onto the stretcher without any further help from the rescuers and saunters towards the balcony.

At some point, the goat ran onto the neighboring balcony.
At some point, the goat ran onto the neighboring balcony.  © Feuerwehr Madrid
The firefighters were then able to bring the animal to safety.
The firefighters were then able to bring the animal to safety.  © Feuerwehr Madrid

Many questions are still unclear

Although goats are considered intelligent and skillful climbers, the fire department could not rule out the possibility of the animal - a brown dwarf goat - falling and injuring itself or a passer-by.

In the end, there was a happy ending. But many questions remain unanswered: How did the animal get there? Who does it belong to? The responsible authorities explained that they want to clarify these questions - but the first thing they want to do is find the goat a home, they said.