Runaway goat wanders into Massachusetts hotel

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Police tracking the movements of a runaway goat though a Massachusetts town said the animal was finally captured after wandering into a hotel.

The Auburn Police Department said dispatchers first received calls about 6 a.m. Friday about a goat wandering around town after it escaped from the Blash Pig Farm in Millbury.

Police responded to numerous reported goat sightings during the weekend, but were unable to catch up with the farm fugitive until it wandered into Auburn's La Quinta Hotel about 4:30 a.m. Monday.

Police said the goat was "taken into 'custody'" after entering the hotel, "presumably to rest a bit."

The department's Facebook post included footage of the goat wandering the lobby and halls of the hotel before being captured.

The goat was turned over to farm owner Peter Blash.

Blash said the goat, known as #448, escaped by leaping over a 5-foot fence at the farm.

"They take off like a bullet," Blash told CBS Boston. "When he took off, he took off like a criminal."

He said the goat, while crafty, was not his most impressive runaway.

"I had one that made it all the way to Sturbridge," a distance of about 16 miles, he said.

Police couldn't resist referencing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, known to some fans as the GOAT -- an acronym for the "greatest of all time."

"So, as it turns out, Tom Brady was not the only [goat] running wild this past weekend," police quipped.