Johann - the favorite of people and the guardian of the caves (8 photos + 2 videos)

Most of the monuments and sculptures are dedicated to dogs, because these animals follow people and perform heroic deeds without demanding anything in return.





There are monuments in the world dedicated to unusual creatures. For example, a scarab, mammoth or laboratory mouse. What about goats? It is unlikely that these cunning, rather harmful and unpleasant-smelling animals deserved such dedication. But this is not so, and there is also a monument to the Horned Man.



Village coast

This bronze goat statue near the coastal village of Cushendun in Northern Ireland is hard to miss. It is dedicated to Johann, the last animal killed in the area during the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in the early 2000s. His permanent grazing area was here along the harbor and he was popular with locals and tourists alike.





In 2001, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease left Northern Ireland virtually isolated. Animal exports stopped and livestock were destroyed.



Belfast-born artist Deborah Brown created this memorial to Cushendun's pet after the animal was destroyed. A local farmer occasionally ties one of his current pets to the statue while it grazes. The past and the present, life and death are so touchingly connected, unable to exist without each other.