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By Sam Wheeler for the Tidings November 26. 2014 3:18PM Urban goats take to Ashland's yards and sidewalks Aaron Fletcher shares a pear with his goats Ruca and Selena. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Maybe you’ve seen him wandering around town or camped out on a sidewalk with his three goats and a dog on leashes. While it may raise a few eyebrows, it boils down to food security for Aaron Fletcher and his tribe of goats. The goats get food from accommodating area homeowners, Fletcher gets food from the goats and, he says, they all set an example for the community. Fletcher, a 32-year-old homeless man who lives in Ashland, says he and his goats “promote and show other people the new urban livestock laws that allow them to have such food security." When the Ashland City Council loosened laws surrounding urban farming in September 2013, Fletcher started saving money to buy a pair of miniature goats, which are allowed under the city’s new “Keeping of Animals” laws. Fletcher says he has handed out more than 1,000 flyers promoting Ashland’s newfound farming freedoms, but he feels like people aren’t catching on. In addition to the flyers, Fletcher says, he posted ads online asking people to temporarily trade their yard space for free milk — he’s had just four responses in a year. “Ashlanders have a very, very awesome opportunity with this,” he says. “Come on people!” In addition to miniature goats, Ashland’s micro-livestock laws allow for chickens, domestic fowl, turkeys and rabbits, but Fletcher insists miniature goats are the most sustainable choice. He milks his 3-year-old part-Nigerian dwarf goat Selena twice a day and gets a half-gallon of milk. He ferments it with kefir grains before eating it, and strains small portions to make cheese. “Kefir is my favorite food, thank god,” he says. “It’s the world’s greatest superfood.” It provides all the food he and his yellow Labrador retriever, Sam, need in a day, Fletcher says, while Sam laps at a spatter of creamy white kefir spilled in strip of grass across the street from the Ashland Food Co-op. Fletcher has permission from the homeowner there to tie his goats up and let them munch on the weeds and grass. As Sam lies down, Fletcher’s youngest goat, a 4-month old part-Nigerian dwarf goat named Doe Re Mi, gently and playfully tramples the dog. Fletcher’s third goat, a 6-month-old part-Nigerian dwarf named Ruca, isn’t quite ready to begin producing milk, he says. Since the new urban farming laws were passed, Fletcher has been through about 10 goats, he says. “It’s really difficult to find goats that will work in someone's living situation like mine is,” he says. “If they have certain characteristics that are difficult for me to live with in a homeless situation, I unfortunately have to give them away.” Fletcher received a citation last summer for a reason he says the Ashland police officer didn’t explain. Ashland Police Department Deputy Chief Corey Falls says Fletcher was issued a citation for having just one goat. A portion of the Keeping of Animals laws states “solitary miniature goats are not permitted.” “To have the type of goat you have to have two, you can’t have them individually,” Falls says. “Now he has a herd.” There is no mention in the Keeping of Animals laws that a home is required to own an animal inside the city limits, and there is nothing that bans the animals from city streets or sidewalks, so Fletcher is within his bounds. And Fletcher and his tribe don’t seem to be causing much trouble anyway, Falls said. The city’s Keeping of Animals laws can be viewed on the city website www.ashland.or.us. Reach freelance writer Sam Wheeler at [email protected].   http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141126/NEWS/141129856 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->