Everyone complains about prison food. Prison food is like school cafeteria food (probably because they both buy from the same supply companies) in that it’s just a punchline or short-hand for gross, cold, poorly-prepared, and otherwise unsatisfying glop. Some people would rather eat light bulbs. Then, there are some people who’ll eat anything, like two inmates at Corrigan-Radgowski Prison in Uncasville, Connecticut. Nibbles and Bits, two goats, live on the prison and eat grass, weeds, and whatever else they can get their mouths on.
Joe Schoonmaker was the man with the bright idea to turn the job over to goats when he heard about a couple of kids who needed a good home. Nibbles and Bits get turned loose on the fence line, hills, and everywhere lawnmowers are impractical. The goats’ pen, fencing, toys, and shavings are all donated or made at the prison, and prison trustees care for the animals.
While the goats do need additional feed, they save the prison $200 per year on gas and mowing. More importantly, they’re a positive influence. “It gives inmates a sense of purpose to care for farm animals,” Warden Anthony Coletti said. “And they really learn to care for them and about them. Everyone loves the goats.”
Tags: goats used to trim grass at prison, Uncasville, Connecticut, Nibbles and Bits, Corrigan-Radgowski Prison, goats live in prison, prison farm, Joe Schoonmaker, Anthony Coletti
