Edgar’s Mission Passport
Pan
Pan
11th November 2024
Goat
Hightailing it out of the abattoir
Arriving at sanctuary
That all animals live free
Certified true likeness
Pan’s Story

A Symbol of Peace

Updated December 18, 2024

Pan’s story is one that speaks to the soul and carries with it many profound messages. He is a striking young tri-coloured goat, aptly named after the Greek god of the wild, protector of flocks, and symbol of nature’s untamed beauty and resilience.

Once a free-ranging Rangeland goat, Pan was rounded up, along with many of his bewildered herd, and crammed into noisy, multi-decked trucks. Hauled hundreds of kilometres from their homeland they were surrounded by sights and sounds as unfamiliar as they were hostile. Desperately the goats searched for an escape route — but there was none.

Then, landing at the abattoir, the acrid smell of death told them they were never going home. And then Pan did the unthinkable. He saw the smallest window of opportunity and ran for it like his life depended on it. Because, as we all know, it did. 

Running for several adrenaline-filled days, he eventually took up refuge at a nearby worksite. There, from on high, he claimed a vantage point that gave him a clear view of potential predators. Alas, to Pan, we were among them. And so, we enlisted, yet again, the sharp-shooting skills of the kind-hearted Manfred Zabinskas of Five Freedoms Animal Rescue, to bring Pan to safety.

But it wasn’t a bullet of death that ended his uncertain future; it was a dart of sedation that paved his way to sanctuary.

That Pan arrived at sanctuary on Armistice Day was not lost us all. On this day, we remember the end of a human war, but Pan’s arrival reminds us of another war—one that continues to rage against the animal kingdom. Fuelled by our diets, hunting practices and destruction of their homes. Hapless animals like Pan continue to suffer and die, often unseen and unheard.

In 2023 alone, 2,358,430 goats were slaughtered in Australia—most of them Rangeland goats like gentle Pan. And yet, in his name we find another meaning. In Greek it also means “all” or “everything” and in this we find a reminder that Pan is more than just one goat, he is a symbol of every being yearning for freedom.

Today, Pan’s heart no longer races with fear. His once-wide eyes are softer now, and he takes tentative steps towards us, encouraged by his confident new friends, Trapper John and Sherman T. Potter—two goats who know the safety of sanctuary. And it is here that Pan is learning to trust again.

In the gentleness we now see, Pan teaches us a powerful lesson: it’s time to lay down our weapons and let all animals live free.

If Pan can find peace, perhaps our kind can, too.