A man and his goat became the talk of the town over the weekend after a video went viral of Metro Transit Police Officers taking the man into custody in Navy Yard. Speculation online immediately started brewing, generating outrage that a man would be arrested for just having a goat.
That man’s name is Kyrie Givens, and he and his goat Lil Bob have been Southeast DC residents for months, with Givens documenting their escapades on his Instagram and Tiktok (@kynobap).
Here’s what to know about DC’s latest celebrity and his owner:
No, his owner was not arrested for having a goat.
Contrary to online speculation, Givens was not arrested for bringing his goat on the Metro. Givens told The Washington Post that the Metro Transit Police officers shown detaining him in that video on Saturday briefly brought him into custody on suspicion of charges in Prince George’s County but he was released shortly thereafter.
Metro Police confirmed during a news conference Tuesday that the detainment had nothing to do with the goat, but they said people should still not bring goats on the Metro.
Givens was previously arrested and charged in January after police accused him of firing several shots into an occupied apartment in Hyattsville. Thomas Mooney, his attorney, told The Washington Post the charges were dropped last week.
Metro rules state pets must be in a “secure container” to ride on the system, with an exception for service animals that assist people with disabilities.
Lil Bob’s origins remain unknown.
Lil Bob made his first social media appearance in September, with Givens posting photos of him on his Instagram. Since then, Givens’s social media has been populated with videos of him and Lil Bob asking people questions like “What’s your biggest red flag in dating?” and to name their “top 5 Black people.”
Givens posted a video on Instagram Tuesday showcasing all six of his goats, named Lil Bob, Alabama, Barney, Wilma, Shawty, Low and Moesha. It remains unclear where he got the goats, because the only answer he provided the Post was that Lil Bob was “from Southeast.”
Technically, it’s not legal to have a pet goat in DC.
DC Code § 8–1808 prohibits people from importing most animals into DC for the purpose of keeping them as pets — the only pets allowed, for anyone curious, are: domestic dogs, cats, rodents, rabbits, captive-bred common cage birds, nonvenomous snakes, turtles and fish, ferrets, and racing pigeons. Goats didn’t make the cut.
But, the code has a specific goat provision, specifying the mayor can allow goats to be temporarily imported into DC for the purpose of “eating grass, milking and shearing demonstrations, participating in yoga or similar activities, being on display in temporary pettings zoos for the enjoyment and education of District youth, and any other activities approved by the Department of Health through regulation.”
Goats can make good pets—though they need their space.
Goats are actually considered to be quite good pets, given their social personality — though, experts say, goats do need companions, particularly other animals. Dwarf and pygmy goats are the ones most commonly kept as pets, due to their smaller size. (Lil Bob is likely one of these variations.) They grow to be around 40 to 60 pounds and 16 to 20 inches tall, living on a mostly grassy diet of vegetation and hay with mineral salts as vitamin supplements.
However, goats are generally not city animals, given that they need room to roam. Recommendations vary, though it’s generally recommended to have about 150 square feet of outdoor space per goat. Considering about 41 percent of DC’s housing units are rental apartments as of 2024, spacious backyards are hard to come by.
You can expect a goat in captivity to live for about 10 to 15 years, so Lil Bob likely hasn’t even reached his prime.
Lil Bob isn’t the only goat in the DMV.
If the Lil Bob craze has awoken an urge for some goat-time in your life, don’t worry. This area has other goat-centric activities. The National Zoo’s Kids’ Farm features goats, along with cows, alpacas, and miniature donkeys, available for petting. Beth A. Wolfe, a yoga instructor in Arlington, offers monthly sessions of goat yoga. Old Maryland Farm in Upper Marlboro is open to the public and allows visitors to interact with a wide variety of farm animals, including goats.
And then there’s Jacob Holiday, a man from Minnesota who has been on a cross-country trek and is heading to DC, where he reportedly hopes to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” on the Capitol Steps, with his three goats. He seems to be close—he was spotted in Fairfax in June and Arlington last week.
