Goat left behind

New Zealand - Burglars of a Reefton house stole cash, compact discs and alcohol – but left behind a goat.

A couple returned to their rented Shiel Street house at midnight on Thursday to find they had been burgled of 47 CDs, a bottle of Jagermeister herbal liqueur and $375 cash.

The woman – who is terrified of goats – then went to the spare room to find it locked and the animal curled up on the bed.

Constable Chris Todd, of Reefton, said police had spoken to two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, about the theft of the goat and the burglary of the Shiel Street house and several other Reefton buildings. Todd said both youths were known to police and were helping identify a third suspect, a 17-year-old known to have recently left the area.

Prosecutions against the younger teens were pending. The alcohol and some of the money had been recovered, and the goat returned to its owner.

The burglars entered the house by removing louvre panes from the toilet window. The goat caused no damage.

Police were unsure why the burglars brought the goat into the house, left it behind or locked it in the room – or whether it was a joke. "Maybe they were trying to pin the burglary on the goat." Todd added that police had "fingerprinted, footprinted and hoofprinted".