22 JULY 2023 By Mallory Gleich Fifty-eight percent of homeowners in Arizona have a pet. Now, when we think of pets, we think of dogs, cats, fish - maybe even a hedgehog. But one Arcadia resident, Kathleen Piazza, went a different route. Kathleen was born and raised in the Ozarks of Missouri. She and her husband raised a family of eight on a goat and chicken farm before she moved to Mesa in the early ‘80s to continue her work in the nursing industry. When she retired, she moved to Arcadia to be closer to her son Paul, his wife Alyse and their children. “I needed to get used to not being a nurse,” Kathleen said. “I missed nursing and needed some new activities, so I moved closer to family.” Around a year ago, she added two new members to her home – Nigerian pygmy goats named Tulip and Freckles. “Paul knew that I loved goats, and the only love I had was Tillie, my dog,” Kathleen said. “I was closer to Paul, Alyse, and the kids, which kept me out of trouble, but one day, Paul showed up, and I noticed two strange faces in the truck with him.” Paul works in areas where there are multiple farms with goats and decided to bring a couple of them to Kathleen’s house to keep her and Tillie company. “The kids were in the back, and Alyse was in the front, and Paul was trying to get out of the truck, and it just looked like a circus in there,” Kathleen laughed. After Tulip and Freckles were set up in their new space, word spread around the neighborhood, and Kathleen found that she and her new pets had many visitors. Perhaps the most excited were Kathleen’s next-door neighbors, Van Nguyen and her daughters, Sophia and Noel. In between Van and Kathleen’s homes is a wood fence, and Van had a handyman carve out a little spot at eye level so that the goats can visit with Van’s daughters face to face. There are two gates on either side of the house so passersby can see the goats, too. “We have an evening routine with our preschool-aged daughter where we mention names of people who ‘love me,’ for instance, mommy loves me, grandma loves me and so forth. Lately, Sophia says, ‘Kathleen loves me, Tillie loves me, Tulip loves me, Freckles loves me,’ like the goats are an extension of our family and neighborhood,” Van said. “Noel is fascinated with them, as they are with her. It’s rare that anyone gets to live next door to goats, but we like to visit them. It brightens the kid’s day.” Tulip and Freckles call Kathleen’s backyard their domain, and Paul even built a “mountain,” made of plywood pieces, for them to climb on. They get lots of exercise running around and watching the men building the house next to theirs. “Caring for the goats is like caring for a preschooler,” Kathleen said. “They don’t talk to you, but they make a lot of noise and like to follow me everywhere; mostly they like to do their own thing.” This Arcadia neighbor has grown her family by eight hooves Kathleen with Freckles and Tulip. Freckles peeking through the ‘window.’ FHA Loans Construction Loans Private Money Loans Commercial Loans VA Loans Investor Loans HELOC's Jumbo Loans Conventional Loans Bridge Loans Portfolio Loans Bank Statement Loans WONDERING HOW TO NAVIGATE YOUR MORTGAGE NEEDS WHEN INTEREST RATES ARE HIGH? LET US HELP YOU BUILD THE RIGHT FINANCING STRATEGY From first time homebuyers to seasoned real estate investors, High Place Mortgage has to the tools to assist with your financing goals highplacemortgage.com | 602.463.3780 | 2930 E Camelback Rd, Suite 175 Phoenix, AZ 85016