CHICAGO’S MARRIED GOAT has, mercifully, gone to the heavenly farmyard, released from its suffering as a beast of burden.
The goat, known as Rose to close friends, became a web phenomenon when it was reported that she had been "married" to a Chicago area man Kurt Steinberg. The wedding was enforced by elders after a drunken Steinberg was found taking advantage of the poor animal. He was also made to pay a dowry to Rose's original owner Rocco Dempsey. The elders hoped to shame Steinberg, though did not spare Rose's feelings in doing so.
Rose found supporters around the world who, thanks to the internet and particularly this website's "Most E-mailed" function, kept her plight in the public mind for much of her short marriage. Friends would joke about how she had reached the end of her tether, about whether the couple would have any kids, and if they did, whether they would employ a nanny. Others pointed out that the tale got their goat, or wondered whether Steinberg had become a "goatee".
Though forced into human institutions, Rose remained a proud goat and dutiful spouse to the end, doing what all good goats do and eating anything she could find and most importantly giving Steinberg the love he craved. It was this, ironically, which led to her demise - she choked after eating scraps of a plastic bag.
Joking aside, she is actually survived by a male kid, evidence that despite her troubled past she found personal fulfilment with her own kind. Her human "widower" is perhaps wisely not commenting.
No flowers.
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