Actually, before the trial, Gary was an ordinary goat. The only thing, perhaps, that distinguished him from most of his kin was his activity: the little goat helped his owner (and still does) give street comedy performances. But in August 2012, the animal suddenly became a violator of public conduct rules.
Having found himself with his owner near the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, Gary decided to feast on the flowers growing in the flowerbed. It goes without saying that for a goat – even the most “educated” and talented – there is no difference between nibbling grass on a lawn near a royal palace or blissfully chewing a rope pulled from a trash bin. So Gary did not attach much importance to the choice of dining spot. However, there were those who did it for him.
Gary was caught having lunch by police officers. They spoke with the goat’s owner, comedian Jimbo Bazoubi (real name – James Desarnolds), and issued him a fine of 440 Australian dollars ($464) for his pet’s destruction of plants near the museum building.
Gary did not particularly object to the fine; given the chance, he could probably have chewed it up as well, but Jimbo was outraged by the conduct of law enforcement officials and went to court with a complaint. At the magistrate’s court, the case concerning the damage to the museum flowerbed came up for hearing on January 23.
On that day, Jimbo Bazoubi and Gary appeared in court as scheduled. However, the comedian attended the hearing accompanied by his lawyer. The little goat, dressed for the occasion in a colorful hat, remained waiting for the verdict near the entrance to the courthouse. The “defendant” spent time with journalists and photographers, who kept shoving microphones and camera lenses in his face.
Meanwhile, the hearing was underway. At it, Judge Carolyn Burkell stated that Jimbo had been unfairly fined. In the judge’s opinion, the police who issued the fine had no evidence that the comedian intended to feed his pet specifically from the museum flowerbed. The goat’s owner himself confirmed this, stating that he tried to explain to the police what had happened. And what happened was this: Jimbo was walking with Gary to the nearest park with the intention of feeding the hoofed animal, but along the way, the goat itself decided that it should chew a couple of flowers.
In short, Burkell stated that the fine should be canceled. “After all, Gary might have preferred ice cream to flowers,” the judge said, as if hinting that people, even if wearing police uniforms and serious expressions, are hardly capable of understanding a goat’s gastronomic intentions.
True, the judge did not support Bazoubi in one thing: he was denied his request for his court costs to be paid from the treasury. But otherwise, everything ended in Gary’s favor.
The lawyer for the comedian and his goat, Paul McGuire, said he agreed with Burkell’s opinion and also asked to pay special attention to the fact that the fine was essentially issued illegally, as it listed the name of the animal’s owner, whereas the regulation on public conduct was violated not by him, but by Gary. Gary cannot be fined in any way (at least, as long as there is no corresponding clause in Australian laws).
The goat’s owner came out to journalists wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “Goats need love too” and thanked everyone for support. “All defamatory charges against Gary have now been dropped. He was just eating and is not guilty of anything. Thank you all for coming here today. Gary taught the police a good lesson: you can’t bite off more than you can chew,” the comedian stated.
Concluding his address to the media, Jimbo Bazoubi lamented that there are so many minor regulations and laws in Australia that it makes one’s head spin. In the goat owner’s opinion, all these prescriptions often go against common sense, and the case with Gary was especially egregious because the police encroached on a simple law of nature, according to which all living creatures must eat.
“I’m a comedian and I make up jokes, but now it’s hard for me to compete with police officers who perform in such a genre,” the Australian commented on the work of law enforcement. Bazoubi also emphasized that the case of Gary is not just a funny story, but above all a waste of taxpayer money forced to pay for the work of “police officers who would be better off performing their direct duties” rather than watching goats eating flowers.
As for Gary himself, immediately after the hearing ended, he met his owner, posed for cameras, and then chewed a tasty twig. Because such is the nature of a goat.