Frostie the Goat

About

Frostie the Snow Goat was a baby goat who rose to internet fame after photographs and video of him walking with the aide of a wheelchair were posted online in May 2014. He passed away a month later at the Australian Edgar Mission Farm Sanctuary.

Origin

On May 20th, 2014, the Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia posted a video titled “Frostie the Snow Goat” to Vimeo.^[1] In the video, it is revealed that Frostie had arrived at the sanctuary very sick and dehydrated, but even after receiving care, bacterial infection caused by joint-ill left him without the use of his back legs. To allow him to walk, the sanctuary's staff outfitted him with a two-wheeled contraption to act as his back legs, similar to the one used by Chris P. Bacon. In just over a month, the video garnered more than 1.8 million plays and 917 likes on Vimeo.

The same day the sanctuary added a photo and introduction of Frostie on their Facebook page^[14] as well as the video.^[15] Within a month their introduction gained over 3,000 likes and over 700 shares while the video gained over 5,000 likes and over 9,000 shares.

Spread

On May 21st, Cute Overload^[2] published a post titled “Frostie The Snow Goat: A Jolly Happy Soul,” which featured the video and stills of Frostie. The following day, the video was featured on several internet culture blogs and news sites, including The Huffington Post^[3], Buzzfeed^[4] and Metro.^[5]

Frostie's Recovery

On May 28th, the Edgar Mission Farm Sanctuary Facebook page^[6] posted a new picture of Frostie with an update on his health, which revealed that he could now stand and even walk on his own without the aid of the wheelchair.

"Fuelled by a passion to explore and a zest for life that even his crippling illness could not dampen, Frostie is now able to not only stand on his own but walk, skip and run on albeit wobbly little goatee legs. In the days and weeks to follow, there will be much physiotherapy and some medications however amidst the once gloomy forest of Frostie’s world, we can now see bright skies ahead."

Several sites reported on Frostie's health update including The Today Show^[7] and New York Daily News.^[8]

On June 15th, Edgar Mission Farm Sanctuary posted another video^[9] to Vimeo featuring Frostie's progress and showing him walking, running and skipping without the help of his wheels.

Frostie's Death

On June 23rd, the Edgar Mission Farm Sanctuary Facebook page published a post^[10] announcing Frostie had passed away the day before. An autopsy revealed Frostie had died from an excess of abscesses on his spinal cord that hadn't responded to antibiotics. His handler expressed her sadness over his passing and his legacy saying:

"For such a tiny little goat, who only danced on this earth for a short while, his reach has been enormous and he may just well be the harbinger of a brave, new and just world for animals as people come to see them for who they are not for what can be produced from them."

His death was covered by many sites the following day including Gawker^[11], The Huffington Post^[12] and Daily Mail.^[13]

Search Interest

External References