In the backyard of a typical Southern California home, you might find a pool or a dog, but for sophomore Roland Lujambio, this is not the case. When Lujambio gets home from school, he greets his two pet goats Magnus and Eunice. The pair come strolling into view from atop the small hill that lines the back of their yard, continuing past Lujambio and going about their business.

A few months ago, Lujambio and his family made the decision to get kid goats. The family had previously owned another pet goat when they lived on a farm in Texas, so they knew what to expect from these unusual pets. Lujambio explained how this decision came about.

“We were on a drive home from a road trip that the family took and we started a conversation about our old goat and thought about how happy that goat made us,” Lujambio said. “We were thinking, you know, we really need something to keep our minds off the bad and focus on the good and what’s a better representation of happiness than a baby? You get a goat, a baby goat. We actually got him on the way home that day.”

The goat they got that day was Magnus. Magnus is a boy, he is brown with white spots and stands about as tall as a medium sized dog. Shortly after, Lujambio got his second goat, Eunice. Eunice is a girl, she’s white with black spots and is just slightly shorter than Magnus. Both are five months old.

“We got Magnus at first and although he was a really great pet, I had school and my mom had work,” Lujambio said. “We had stuff to do and we kind of just felt bad, so we got him a companion.”

Compared to what most people think, goats are actually very social animals. Even throughout the interview, they stuck close to Lujambio and stayed at the foot of his chair. 

“I like to think they’re a lot like dogs,” Lujambio said. “They’re easy to potty train, they’re easy to take care of and they have a lot of similar features and they’re just really playful. Eunice has slept in my bed with me once or twice. They’re very cuddly animals.”

Lujambio and his family have a close bond with their goats similar to one someone would have with their dog. His older brother, Quinton Lujambio, has even developed his own way of communicating with Magnus when he makes a certain noise.

“We had to leave Magnus at a farm for two weeks, and when Quinton saw Magnus he made the sound and he still remembered him,” Lujambio explained. “We say the bond between our goats and us is pretty strong.”

Before you get too excited about getting your own new pet goat, you will have to look up the laws in your area.

“It’s actually not legal to own a goat in Oceanside or Carlsbad, but they are registered therapy animals,” Lujambio said. “So if you had a large grief or something that’s bad happen to you in your past you’re allowed to register certain animals in the state of California as registered therapy animals, which is what these goats are.”