FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. — A goat stolen from a California high school is back with its student caretaker.
It all started when the Fresno County Sheriff's Office caught a woman stealing the animal.
There are 20 goats at Central High School in Fresno County, California, but Tilly was the one that was taken. Tilly's owner, Faith, says that's because she's the friendliest.
"She's just a people goat," caretaker Faith Schroeder said. "If she sees a person, she gets so excited."
Faith said the reason Tilly loves people so much is because she she was born, she had to be bottle-fed. But her friendliness proved to be a bad thing Friday morning when the sheriff's office said Alexandria Fall, an animal rights activist from Los Angeles broke into the farm and stole Tilly.
When asked why she did it, Fall said she heard Tilly was being mistreated.
"I got word animals were being mistreated at this facility," Fall said in a message on social media. "Upon seeing this goat in a tiny stall with barely any room to run around, I felt compelled to rescue her."
Fall took Tilly to a ranch all the way in southern California.
Schroeder said that stunt is what was dangerous, not Tilly's home at Central High School.
"For miles and miles she didn't have food. She was in a cramped car. I was just like, you're a hypocrite you know?"
June Bettencourt, the agriculture teacher at the school said the animals are always top priority at the school.
"Our animals are fed twice a day, every day. (It) doesn't matter if it's a holiday, if it's 110 degrees, if it's raining. The animals are taken care of first and foremost."
A PETA spokesperson said they thought Tilly would "thank her rescuer" if she was taken to prevent being slaughtered, which often happens with FFA-raised animals.
But that's not the plan for Tilly, who Schroeder said is like family.
"Once I get the farmhouse all good and have a nice pen for her, she'll be with me," Schroeder said.
When Fall learned Tilly wasn't set to be slaughtered, she apologized to Schroeder's family for any heartache or stress she caused.