Ferry diverts to save goat’s life

Time and tide wait for no man – but it’s different for goats. When Jan Sanburg’s nanny goat, Apple, was in distress delivering her two kids on June 27, the interisland ferry backtracked to Shaw Island and then diverted back to Orcas Island so that veterinarian Ron Schuler could assist the mother goat.

Time and tide wait for no man – but it’s different for goats. When Jan Sanburg’s nanny goat, Apple, was in distress delivering her two kids on June 27, the interisland ferry backtracked to Shaw Island and then diverted back to Orcas Island so that veterinarian Ron Schuler could assist the mother goat.

However, although Schuler performed a C-section on the goat, both kids were delivered stillborn.

Orcas County Councilman Alan Lichter, who was onboard the ferry, said that the emergency detour, “could happen only on the islands.”

Sanburg said sadly, “Dr. Schuler and his team were great, they probably saved her life, but she’s still not out of the woods yet.”