We would like to ask Bend City Council to amend City Code to allow residents to keep up to 3 pet goats at their residence. The Code would stipulate that these goats must be miniature (under 100 lbs), any males neutered, all dehorned and nursing offspring allowed until the age of 12 weeks. We feel that city residents should be able to provide milk for their own use from their own land. Goats eat invasive plant species, require very little land, and provide highly nutritious milk. A number of progressive cities in the U.S. have recently enacted such code, including St. Paul, Austin, Berkley, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle. We propose basing our code on that of Seattle. We feel this ordinance change is a simple step we could take in our march towards sustainability. The current Bend ordinance pertaining to goats is Section 3.6.300: " I. Keeping Farm Animals. The purpose of this section is to regulate the raising and breeding of farm animals on residential lots within the City of Bend. These activities are considered to be accessory uses and subject to the following standards. 1. Types of animals allowed: a. One (1) horse shall have a corral or pasture with a usable area of at least 1 acre; and for each additional horse, an additional 1⁄2 acre is required. b. Cows, goats, sheep, swine or other livestock shall not be kept on any parcel or lot with an area less than 5 acres. c. No more than four (4) rabbits and/or chickens (hens only, no roosters) are permitted on parcels and lots 5,000 square feet or greater.".

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