TriMet’s bus-riding goats go national, get their own merch

By Tarek Anthony | OregonLive.com (TNS)

PORTLAND, ORE. — Two Portland goats who attempted to catch a ride on a TriMet bus Tuesday are now making national headlines — and even inspiring their own merchandise — after escaping from their Southeast Portland yard for a morning adventure.

The brothers, Billy the Kid and Billy the Goat, as identified by their owner, Lrae Anderson in an interview with Fox 12 news, escaped from their fenced-in yard early Tuesday morning. They wandered more than a quarter-mile from home to the corner of Southeast 162nd Avenue and Division Street before apparently deciding to catch a ride on the FX2 bus.

As seen in surveillance video released by TriMet, the pair’s ride lasted only about 20 seconds before passengers shooed them off. The two pygmy goats then wandered into a nearby shopping center and disappeared.

TriMet's 'Goated' T-shirt

Portland police searched for the animals following their attempted commute but were unable to locate them. Before long, however, the wayward goats found their own way home.

While the brothers’ attempted ride was short-lived, video of their adventure has attracted millions of views across social media and even inspired the transit agency to launch its own T-shirts.

The shirts read “TriMet is Goated” — a play on “GOAT,” or “greatest of all time” — and feature cartoon images of Billy the Kid and Billy the Goat exiting the bus.

Proceeds from the $35 shirts will go toward supporting public transit, the agency said. The shirts are currently available only for pre-order, with the latest TriMet merchandise expected to hit the streets in early September.

Meanwhile, the two have made headlines across the country, from TV networks including NBC and ABC to the New York Post and The New York Times, which poked fun at the pair Friday for riding without valid fare. “Kids ride free,” the Times wrote, “or so they thought.”

In an interview with the goats’ driver posted to TriMet’s social media, Abdellah Lahouasnia said the incident was — unsurprisingly — the “strangest thing to happen” during his “modest career” with the agency.

“I think they did not have the valid pass or HOP, that’s why they left right away,” Lahouasnia joked. “If I had to rate the goats 1-10, I would give them 11 because they did great, and as soon as the passenger told them to leave, they left quietly and safely.”

As for the two escape artists, Anderson told Fox 12 this was not their first breakout, but it was by far their most adventurous. The goats have previously broken through the lock on their fence to munch on grass in a neighbor’s yard, Anderson said. During Tuesday’s escape, the pair returned to their backyard pen before Anderson even realized they had been gone.

Anderson said in the Fox 12 interview he learned of his pets’ wild ride when friends reached out after recognizing the goats. He went online to find the internet exploding with footage of the pair’s escape. Anderson immediately installed additional locks on the fence, which he hopes will put an end to the bandits’ party days on the streets of Portland.

Despite their unusual choice of transportation, the pair aren’t unusual pets under Portland law. City code allows residents to keep up to three miniature goats on any residential lot, provided they meet requirements for their breed, size and enclosure.

It also wasn’t the first time an animal attempted to hitch a ride with TriMet. Longtime Portlanders took to social media this week to reminisce about a coyote that boarded a MAX train back in 2002.

The two billy goats weren’t the only goats looking for adventure this week. In Minnesota, a Nigerian dwarf goat responded to the scene of a motorcycle crash, trampling through the scene after the driver fled before eventually jumping into the back of a police cruiser.

While officers were unable to find the driver, police said the stubborn goat made for a “determined — and highly unofficial — G-9 partner.”

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