Bleat that: Google outsources goats to mow, fertilise lawns

Internet-Age innovator Google is taking advantage of an old-time principle. It has brought in about 200 of the grazers to munch fields around its campus in Mountain View. California is prone to fires and years of drought have heightened the danger.

“We have some fields that we need to mow occasionally to clear weeds and brush to reduce fire hazard,” Google director of real estate and workplace services Dan Hoffman wrote in a posting on the company’s official blog. “Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we’ve rented some goats ... to do the job for us.”

Google is renting the goats from a company called California Grazing. A herder will bring about 200 of them to the campus and they’ll roam around for a week eating the grass. Not only that, these goats will fertilise the land at the same time.

“They spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilising at the same time,’ Hoffman wrote. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), however, have concerns about how they’ll be treated in doing these tasks. Amy Cook, an assistant manager of marketing for PETA, said: “PETA has no problem with letting goats do what goats want to do — look cute and eat weed — but we are concerned about how the goats will be transported, if they are provided with access to shelter during storms and shade as well as water during hot weather, where they are housed when they aren’t ‘working’, what kind of veterinary care they receive, and what becomes of old and/or excess goats.”

She added: “PETA has found over and over that whenever animals are used by a business to make money, corners are cut and animals suffer. And that really gets our goat, if you’ll pardon the pun.”

Niki Fenwick, a Google representative, said: “Google takes the wellness of our employees seriously and we pride ourselves on having a responsive and adaptable culture. The goats are not, of course, full-time Google employees - but we would certainly respond directly to any concerns about their treatment. I can confirm that during their time in Mountain View, like other Google employees, each goat is entitled to a free organic lunch.”

Not top be outdone, rival web firmYahoo tweeted at Google saying, “They like our grass too,” with a link to a photo goats grazing on Yahoo properties. “Once or twice a year, a large herd of goats can be seen just past our parking garage in Sunnyvale, grazing happily on the tall grasses of the hill beyond,” says Yahoo in the caption. “We have a special fondness for the goats and are always sad to see them go — which, based on their voracity, happens much faster than you’d imagine.”