Coco Pepepinto, the inquisitive goat - Photo / Supplied
A Rotorua resident is looking forward to being reunited with her pet goat, after it wandered into a supermarket yesterday and was taken away by animal control.
Waimanea Nuri says her one-year-old pygmy goat, named 'Coco Pepepinto', escaped his paddock and strolled into FreshChoice across the road.
“He’s a really good escape master. It’s quite difficult for us to lock him up, although he has a big field of grass…I guess he just loves FreshChoice food.”
A video taken by a shopper captured Coco taking a stroll through the aisles just after 4pm.
“They were all shocked in that video. Some of them were worried about health and safety but everyone else was just letting him be a goat,” says Nuri.
FreshChoice National Marketing Manager Kristy Abbott says the store has invested in a commercial clean following Coco’s visit.
In a statement to Te Ao, Abbott said, "I 'kid' you not, a mischievous goat leapt at the chance to see if the grass is greener on the other side as it entered our FreshChoice Te Ngae Supermarket in Rotorua at 16:17pm on Anzac Day"
“Billy or Mary, we're not entirely sure...made a b-line for the baaaa-read aisle before being escorted back outside to familiar surroundings. Our newest customer left empty handed and was safely secured until Rotorua Animal Control arrived.”
Coco Pepepinto becomes famous in Rotorua - Photo / Supplied
Coco the troublemaker
Nuri says it’s not the first time Coco has gone wandering.
“Once he escaped his chains, jumped over his gate walked around the Owhata Medical Centre," she says.
“Apparently someone tied him up to the poles outside their garden and he was eating their flowers.”
Nuri says he’s a lovable goat, but he’s a bit of a troublemaker.
“He used to sleep inside with us, have showers when he was little. We actually put a nappy on him while he was a baby goat while he was still feeding on the bottle so I guess he’s half human, half goat.”
To make sure Coco doesn’t escape again, Nuri says she’ll be getting him a bigger, thicker chain and will replace his collar.