In-Town Livestock Law Gets Nashville Man's Goat

NASHVILLE, TN — A Nashville man is fighting to keep his goat, which he says is a service animal but Metro Animal Care and Control officials say is unpermitted livestock.

Erick Brown and his goat, Deer, showed up to Davidson County General Sessions Court Wednesday to answer an MAAC citation for keeping livestock without a permit, according to WKRN. Deer — whom Brown dressed in a shirt and tie —is no out-of-place farm animal, Brown told the news station. He's a service animal.

“The city tells me I can’t have a goat in the city limits at all, even if it’s a service animal," Brown said. "The goat is important to me because he helps me communicate with people and reach out to people, to be able to spread my message of love and peace throughout the world. Because I’m a person with disabilities, and I have a hard time talking to people and getting people to talk with me.”

Witnesses reported seeing Deer leashed to Brown's car for hours, according to the MAAC complaint. Deer, despite his appropriate court attire, was not allowed inside the courthouse.

According to News 2, Brown's friends have been working to get him a livestock permit. One of those friends, also an attorney, told the station the judge deferred the case in order to see if Brown could secure one.

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Deer isn't the first goat to turn into a Nashville cause célèbre. In 2014, Zoey, a goat belonging to Mark Bigbie and who serves as something of an unofficial mascot for the South Nashville neighborhood of Woodbine, was issued goat permit 001 by the Department of Health after an inspection showed the goat was well cared for and had adequate food and shelter. After Bigbie was issued a citation for Zoey, his neighbors demonstrated their support with an online petition that drew more than 200 signatures.

Metro codes prohibit the keeping of livestock inside the Urban Services District within 1,000 feet of a residence or business, unless the animal owner has a permit.

Brown and Deer, while perhaps not as well known in Nashville as Zoey yet — the pair were among the thousands at the Jan. 21 women's march — have drawn attention across the country.

They've spent years crisscrossing the country spreading "peace and love," living off the kindness of strangers and friends and through donations made to Brown's "Rock Club Foundation" through the GoFundMe with the fantastic name "Goat Fun Me."

In Kansas City, they lived in the parking lot of a church ministered by a street preacher. In Portland, they hung out with protesters railing against the demolition of a historic home. At the end of the first leg of his journey, in Seattle, where his sister lives, he proclaimed "Goats for Bernie!" And back home in Destin, Florida, he and Deer were separated briefly after someone complained about Brown dragging Deer behind a bicycle; vets there determined Deer was well taken care of, and man and beast were reunited.

Perhaps that determination is a good omen for Brown's prospects in Nashville, and Deer will get goat permit 002.

Image via Olivia Lind, used by permission