Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats has been rescuing goats who have been suffering from cruelty, neglect and abandonment for more than 30 years.

We sent our reporter Charlotte Phillips along to experience some one-on-one time with the animals there…

Having spent a fair amount of time with goats in the past with two of my friends owning them, I was excited to meet some more.

While I’ve petted a pygmy goat many times, fed newborn calves when they were just days old and even milked one before, that didn’t make me any less eager to spend some time at Buttercups Sanctuary.

After a short taxi from Staplehurst railway station I arrived at the site in Wierton Road in Boughton Monchelsea.

I was greeted by Ben Ward, the head of hoofstock, and the sound of more than 100 goats welcoming me to the sanctuary.

I was given the opportunity to try our their new goat encounter experience.

He handed me my goat, Ross, on a lead and the hour-long session began.

We started by walking Ross and another goat, Caesar, into a pen and I got the chance to brush them.

Ben said the pair came into the care of Buttercups together after being rescued from Enfield in London in 2022.

He explained: “A woman rocked up in a woodland with some animals about four years before and didn’t have any right to be there.

“When we were called, Caesar had been chained to a tree for at least three years so because of that he didn’t have many positive experiences with people and initially was quite tricky for us to deal with.

“We rescued five animals from there. Ross was initially being kept in a field just behind the woodland and during the period we were having a really severe heatwave so they were being left in the open in the heat.

“We brought all five of them back, two of them have been fostered out and three remain with us.”

During the session we also got to walk the goats around the sanctuary while learning about its history.

Buttercups was set up by former motorbike shop owner Robert Hitch and his wife Valerie.

Robert retired just before he turned 50 and began looking after sheep – but goats came into their lives after the pair agreed to take on two that were unwanted in 1989.

Months after, the RSPCA asked if they could accept another goat in need of urgent care, and by 2003 the sanctuary became a registered charity.

The rescue centre is entirely funded by the public. Most of the money it receives comes from donations when people come to visit, but you can also adopt a goat on its website and do other experiences.

Ben, 25, said: “The donations are essential, without the volunteers we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of what we do and the same goes for donations.

“I would say this is quite an affordable day out so we’re still seeing a lot of people coming down regularly.”

Buttercups has around 80 volunteers and most of the goats it takes in come from Kent and East Sussex.

Ben, who has a degree in animal welfare and behaviour, explained: “A lot of the time our help is needed when people take in goats and don’t do the correct research on how to look after them.

“We do obviously get unfortunately abuse and neglect cases. We’ve had situations before where we’ve been contacted by the RSPCA when they’ve taken out a prosecution case and asked us if we’re happy to take the goats in.

“Then we get things like people moving house. A lot of retired people get goats because they have the time.

“But the trouble with that is sometimes people get health problems and they’re no longer able to look after their goat.

“Goats are a lot more work than something like a dog.

“Sadly we are seeing more people coming to us saying they can’t afford to keep their goat anymore.”

The sanctuary gives people the opportunity to foster goats.

“The foster system is probably one of the pinnacles of this place and what makes it so good,” Ben said.

“It works in such a way that the goat will always remain ours from a legal perspective, so that everyone involved is protected.

“It means if we foster them out and for whatever reason that fosterer can no longer look after the goat they always have us to come back to.

“With that we provide a lot of support. We go out to see the foster home and we always offer to cover all the vet bills.

“We do have quite a lot of criteria we like people to have in place before we consider fostering.

“From my personal perspective, it’s the thing I’m absolutely the most proud of at this place because it allows us to move goats on so we can create space for other goats that need it.”

The new goat encounters are starting on April 6 and more information can be found here.

The sessions cost £25 per person.