---

NORFOLK - It turns out that two goats suspected of being abandoned were actually on the lam.

Norfolk Animal Control Officer Hilary Cohen said the goats found Monday in the town's industrial park on Shire Road have been returned to their owner in Wrentham.

She said the goats escaped from the hobby farm Sunday, shortly after they had been acquired by the owner. The owner was determined while Cohen was trying to find who allegedly had abandoned the goats. Reportedly, they were slightly underweight.

The department was offering a $300 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone who abandoned the goats.

Her investigation took her to feed and farm stores, including Gilmore's in Walpole, where she talked to staff there about the goats. A day later, someone came into the store and said he had just purchased two goats and they had run off. Gilmore's told the new goat owner to contact Norfolk Animal Control.

Cohen said the owner was "very cooperative" about allowing her to inspect housing for the goats and in accepting suggestions about how to make it "goat proof."

By the way, the goats, dubbed Tim and Billy after the two people who found them, are actually Lilly and April, a mother and daughter pair.