And the winner of most bizarre city project goes to..... • This city life

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And the winner of most bizarre city project goes to…..

I was on a mini break in Seattle over the Easter Weekend and was excited to check out the recently closed (and soon to be demolished) Alaska Way Viaduct. I didn’t expect to see this:

From far away, it looked like a bunch of garbage under the highway behind the Seattle Marriott. Then it started to move and my husband realized the moving mounds of garbage were goats! When we asked a local what was going on, he said they were put there to clean up the vegetation along the steep hillside area. Huh.

I did a little research and found out that the goats belong to Rent-A-Ruminant, a local company that rents goats out to property owners and government agencies who need to clear vegetation. Rent-A-Ruminant was hired by the Seattle Department of Transportation. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, The Pine Street Hill Climb was too steep to be cleared with equipment. And prolific drug use under that area of the Alaskan Way Viaduct means the area is riddled with needles and other paraphernalia dangerous to humans.

But not to goats.

“Goats don’t catch people diseases,” said Rent-A-Ruminant owner Tammy Dunakin. “I’ve never had a goat come down with an injury. It’s amazing what they can be around and not get injured.”

I thought farming in the city was a Vancouver thing. Not so, Seattle. I look forward to seeing your backyard chickens.