People from all around the world have donated a total of ISK 10 million (USD 84,600, EUR 65,000) to save Iceland’s largest goat farm, Háafell in Borgarfjörður, West Iceland, from foreclosure.
Jóhanna B. Þorvaldsdóttir, the owner of the farm, has been a pioneer in the breeding and welfare of the ancient Icelandic goat stock for 14 years, ruv.is reports.
Jóhanna said contributions have come from all over the world. “Primarily from the United States, but also from Iceland, Norway and a lot of other countries.”
She is stunned by the success of the campaign and full of gratitude. She will use the funds to try to negotiate with the bank so that her work on the farm can continue.
This would not just be a victory for Háafell, she reasoned. “As there are no other farms like ours anywhere else in Iceland, this kind of natural breeding is important for all goat owners in the country.”
Today, about 400 goats live at Háafell, almost half of the whole goat population in Iceland. But the farm is not profitable and deeply in debt, owing ISK 40 million.
If the crowd-funding campaign, initiated by two benefactors from the U.S., had not been successful, the farm would have had to be auctioned off and all the goats sent to the slaughterhouse.
