HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Baby goat Hope wasn’t breathing when she was born at Steinmetz Family Farm a couple of months ago. Justin Steinmetz performed “goat CPR” on her, reviving her, and a video of him helping the little goat exploded in popularity online.
“My wife grabbed the camera, and I performed ‘goat CPR,’ if there is such a thing, and I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I was sucking, I was blowing, CPR, I was shaking,” Justin said. “Out of nowhere, we had a following of 30,000 people practically overnight.”
Now Justin shares positive messages — and his goats — on social media frequently, and people love it. At the Pennsylvania Farm Show, people can meet Hope and the other goats of Steinmetz Family Farm in person for some goat snuggles.
Justin and his wife Lauren Steinmetz are goat farmers who run Steinmetz Family Farm in Berks County.
“In July, my wife said to me, ‘Let’s try to make a little extra money from the goats and do some goat snuggling,'” Justin said. He was skeptical in the beginning, but their first event went well, and then the business became really popular after they shared the video of Hope.
People come from around the United States to meet the goats, Justin said. At the Farm Show, visitors waited in a line down the hallway of the New Holland Arena Concourse for some goat snuggles.
“This is our first year here, and it was just a shot in the dark to see if this would work. We doubled the size of our normal space, we doubled the amount of goats that we normally bring, and it’s still not enough. There’s not enough room. I need the arena, that’s how many people want to snuggle goats!” Justin said.
For $5, Farm Show guests can enter an enclosure with the goats and brush, pet, hold, and cuddle the animals for as long as they want. Visitors are enjoying the new experience.
“Before they even get in the door, it’s, ‘I’m about to walk into heaven.’ And then, ‘I don’t want to leave,” Justin said. “And the number one thing…little kids: ‘Mom, Dad, can we have a goat? Can we have a goat?'”
“You can’t deny the fun and the feeling that you get from snuggling a baby goat,” Justin added.
Steinmetz Family Farm also offers goat rentals, Justin explained, so that kid begging for a pet goat can see what it’s like to have one for a day.
Goat snuggling is available every day of the Pennsylvania Farm Show.