Animal rights activists say the tradition of the Royal Welsh Battalion adopting a goat as a mascot is “outdated and cruel”.
A wild goat named Fusilier Shenkin IV was caught using a dart in Llandudno this week by the Third Battalion. The animal has now started six months of training in Cardiff.
Shenkin IV had been on the run for a month after he avoided the regiment’s first attempt at catching him.
The tradition of the Royal Welsh regiment adopting a goat mascot dates back almost 250 years, but Vikki Watkins of South Wales Animal Save believes the mascot is an outdated tradition and it should be stopped.
She said: “He was a wild animal and living quite happily on the mountainside and now he’s going to be going under the rigours of being trained.
“If anybody else wilfully took an animal from the wild with the intention of keeping them captive, it’s a criminal offence; you would be prosecuted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.”
In an interview with the BBC, The Royal Welsh’s Goat Major Sargent Jackson said: “I take great care in making sure he’s fully prepared to face the public and, when he is, he’ll be in great demand.”
The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment.
