CBS News
A small Italian island with a population of 100 people is being overrun by 600 goats. The mayor wants people to adopt them.
A small Italian island is being overrun by goats – in fact, there are six times the amount of the animals than there are people. Riccardo Gullo, the mayor of Alicudi, which is just off the coast of Sicily, is now trying to give away goats as the island becomes inundated with the animals.
Alicudi only has 100 inhabitants but 600 goats, Gullo said in a post on social media. The goats usually graze on the mountains and cliffs of the island but as they’ve grown in population, they’ve infiltrated residential areas, according to BBC News.
Since the goats are damaging gardens, Gullo came up with an “Adopt A Goat” program to give them away. Adoption applications are due on Wednesday, BBC News reports.
Mayor Riccardo Gullo
Alicudi is one of seven islands that make up the Aeolian Archipelago, and there is a farmer on a nearby island, Vulcano, who produces cheese and would like to take some of the goats, Gullo told the Guardian.
In an interview with local publication Fanpage, Gullo said he is an animal rights activist and has never even caught a fish.
“In my belief, we must always intervene in nature with soft feet,” Gullo said. “I hope, and in this I am comforted by the experts, that we have made the best possible choice and that these goats will live a happy life.”
He has thought about the possibility of allowing breeders to take the goats and said an entrepreneur called to offer to take all 600 of the animals.
Mayor Riccardo Gullo
The goats would normally each cost 200 euros – or about 217 U.S. dollars – but the Alicudi goats will be free to anyone who wants them. The goats will be checked out by a vet before they are delivered.
If the goat adoption plan works, it may be applied to other Aeolian islands that are overrun with the animals.
“Who knows why goats get along so well in our islands: So particular, so solitary… It means that they are goats of good taste,” Gullo told Fanpage.
CBS News has reached out to Gullo for comment but did not immediately get a response.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.