Roy-ally cute: Wan Shamsul Fatah (right) holding Roy as his two-year-old son Wan Edrez looks on at their home here in Johor Baru. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Say hello to Roy, the beloved pet of businessman Wan Shamsul Fatah Wan Arshad.
Roy is a pygmy goat, which is known for its smaller size but is more agile than others of the species.
“They make really good pets. They do not smell like normal-sized goats. They are hardy and quite manja (affectionate),” said Wan Shamsul Fatah, 34.
He said he had always been interested in keeping pygmy goats as pets, but never got around to it until about four months ago.
“In February, I brought my family for a vacation in Thailand where we visited an elephant sanctuary. They have a petting zoo and pygmy goats were among the animals there.
“The pygmy goats were allowed to roam free without any cage or fence. I immediately fell in love with the four-legged creature,” the father of two said in an interview at his house yesterday.
Upon his return home, Wan Shamsul Fatah immediately called up a friend of his who runs an exotic pet shop in Selangor and asked him about pygmy goats.
His friend, who had the goats, told him that it cost about RM3,500 each.
Wan Shamsul Fatah wasted no time in buying three of them.
“I have one male pygmy goat, which I named Roy. The other two are females named Sajat and Janab,” he said.
He provides them with animal feed and jackfruit tree leaves.
Their droppings, he added, are used as fertiliser for his garden.
Subsequently, Sajat surprised him with a pregnancy.
“A few months after having them, I noticed that there was a bump on Sajat’s tummy. I brought her to a veterinarian who did a scan and found out that she was heavily pregnant,” he added.
He said Sajat gave birth to a doeling (female kid) and a buckling (male kid) early last month, adding that a goat’s pregnancy lasts about five months.
“However, Roy is not the father as he has white fur. Sajat’s offsprings have brown dark fur,” he said.
Roy, on his part, impregnated Janab who would be giving birth soon, he added.
Wan Shamsul Fatah said he has grown attached to his pygmy goats, adding that he would make video content featuring them.
“Roy has become a bit of a celebrity on social media with many people asking about him. I have made about 60 videos where I share information about keeping pygmy goats as pets.”
Wan Shamsul Fatah said people who are keen to keep pygmy goats must have a big lawn as the animals like to run and move in a big space.
“You must also know a veterinarian who specialises in exotic animals as not all of them can treat them,” he added.
One more piece of advice from Wan Shamsul Fatah: “Give them love and affection.”
