One lucky goat has escaped a slaughterhouse for life thanks to his own will to live, and the help of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. YNN’s Alexandra Weishaupt caught up with shelter volunteers who say the five-year-old fugitive is now well on the road to recovery after his recent ordeal.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

WILLOW, N.Y. -- Wilfred is adjusting to his new life at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary after a wild night in New York City.

“He’s still nervous which is healthy really because that’s what’s kept him alive,” said Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Manager Sheila Hyslop.

Just a week ago he was running for his life. He's believed to be a slaughterhouse escapee, found racing through the busy streets of Brooklyn, having been chased down by police. He was eventually hog-tied by a former African goat herder in a hospital parking lot, and was taken into custody in the back of a patrol car.

Luckily for Wilfred, volunteers at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary caught wind of his plight, quickly rescuing him from a city shelter and bringing him about two hours north to safety.

“He’s next to pigs and he’s not so sure about his noisy roommates, but he’s doing okay,” said Hyslop.

His new family says they’re now working to nurse the underweight animal back to health in the hopes he’ll join the rest of the goats in a few weeks time.

“He is getting to know us all. He’s taken a carrot from somebody’s hand, he’s enjoying his grain and his hay and I personally believe deep down he knows he’s in a good place,” said Hyslop.

They say they also look to remove the tags in his ears, freeing him entirely from his previous path of despair.

“He’ll never have to face a butcher’s block. We know enough about slaughterhouses to know that it wasn’t a good time, and hopefully here now he will have one of the best lives a goat can have,” said Hyslop.

And with the Big Apple behind him, a quiet life here in the country.

Folks are welcome to pay Wilfred a visit when visitor season begins in April, or sponsor him as the facility is runs entirely on donations.