Cletus back in jail after screwing up golden opportunity

In the end, what if Cletus is just a screw-up, destined for a life of screwing things up and always ending back up in jail?

After all, some people are just screw-ups and always seem to end up back in jail. Can a goat be a complete screw-up?

Cletus, the viral goat last from the weekend, is back at the Baldwin County Animal Shelter today, less than 24 hours after being moved to a sprawling farm in the country with nothing but female goats. Cletus was the only billy goat and the only guy. Cletus did damage to the farm owners’ hauling trailer, and Cletus was also really ill-mannered and disrespectful to one of the other goats.

So, now Cletus is searching for his third home in less than a week. Animal Control initially was called out to Deacon J. Simmons Road in Harrisburg last Thursday, after Cletus kept breaking out of his little fence. Cletus’ owners weren’t very equipped to handle goats and weren’t very knowledgable about goats, thinking that Cletus was a female, even though Cletus has a really long beard. After some wrangling and wrestling, Animal Control Senior Officer Summer Bilbrey was able to corral Cletus and transport him from Harrisburg to Animal Control headquarters on Linda Drive, which for many years was the county jail.

Cletus was put out in the old “jailhouse yard,” not far from the basketball goal where inmates used to hoop. On Saturday morning, however, Bilbrey arrived, looked up and said “where the (blank) is Cletus?” Cletus somehow escaped the 12-foot-tall fence topped with barbed wire. Not longer after, calls became coming in, and Cletus’ picture started showing up on Facebook. Cletus actually made two journeys on Saturday. First, he hit up Carrington Woods and eventually decided to come back home. Bilbrey spotted him at the edge of the Animal Control property and moved in. A passing car then rode by and honked the horn, and Cletus was spooked, and Bilbrey lost her opportunity.

Cletus then cut through the Graham Homes/Boddie projects and came out on Jefferson Street. Cletus apparently is a street smart goat, and he used the side walks and never really had to dodge any traffic. Bilbrey then spotted Cletus at Lee Loans, cattie corner to Northside Baptist Church on North Jefferson Street. Cletus wasn’t ready to go back to goat jail, however, and it turned out to be a two-hour ordeal. Bilbrey almost had Cletus lured in with some Oreos at one point, but another motorist drove by and honked the horn, and Cletus spooked once again. Bilbrey persisted, however, eventually getting a hold of Cletus’ horns and loading him back up.

On Monday, the story appeared to have a happy ending, and a new home was found for Cletus way out in the country. It was a sprawling goat farm with nothing but female goats. By Tuesday morning, however, the owners of the farm had had enough of Cletus, and now he’s back at Animal Control.

Cletus was very happy when he was moved to his new home, and things were finally looking up for Cletus, but then he screwed it up.

If anyone is interested in adopting Cletus and taking on the challenge, call Baldwin County Animal Control at 445-5514.

"Just leave a message. We will definitely get back with you," said Bilbrey.