The image you see is from 1927. In it, a newborn child is fed directly by a goat (or perhaps a shorn sheep). And while it may seem strange to us today, in its time it was an act of survival.
Before formula, nearby hospitals, or milk banks, many families resorted to whatever was on hand. Cow’s milk was difficult for babies to digest. But goat’s milk… it was different. Softer. Closer to human milk. And often the only option when a mother couldn’t breastfeed.
An anonymous testimony summed it up this way:
“My mother was fed by a goat. She was born in 1942, two months premature, in the countryside, with no hospital or telephone. A neighbor had a nursing goat. Mom says she’s strong because she was raised on goat’s milk… and inherited its character.”
For generations, animals not only provided shelter and food. They also saved human lives.
Simple stories. Everyday. But full of humanity.