WINDSOR, Maine — Dale Strout, 14, has spent his summer raising "Goose."
It's not an actual goose, but a lamb he named Goose.
In addition to "bah"-ing, 7-month-old Goose enjoys long walks, hanging out in the pen with his friends, and getting up close and personal with nearly everyone he comes into contact with.
"I've been feeding him, walking him, [and] watering him," said Strout. "We had to sheer him twice, trim his feet, [and] halter break him."
Strout's had Goose since May.
The Cornville resident hadn't planned on raising the lamb on his family's dairy farm this year but when Andrew Curtis, one of his close friends at school, was diagnosed with bone cancer last Spring, Strout was "moo-ed" to action.
"I knew I wanted to give back to my friend and my community," said Strout.
"Bah," said Goose, almost in response.
Strout's raised Goose to sell him at auction at the Windsor State Fair with the proceeds going to Curtis and his family.
"I wanted to give back to him because he's always been a good friend," said Strout.
"I couldn't be more proud," said Dale's mother, Karen Strout, who has been absorbing the cost of caring for Goose on the family's farm for the past four months. "I can't imagine my child going through it. We're just hoping and praying that this child can overcome this."
"Calling him Goose, I was always thinking of my friend," said Dale.
It turns out, Curtis' nickname is "Goose."
"It'll definitely be hard because I'm getting rid of [Goose the lamb] but at the same time I'll be happy because I'm donating all of the funds to my friend," said Dale.
"If we can help, [and there's] any kind of possibility of taking a little stress off [the Curtis family,] it's the best thing we can do," said Karen.
Dale has pledged to donate all of the proceeds from the sale of Goose the lamb, to Goose the friend.
Despite an anonymous donor calling NEWS CENTER Maine shortly after this story first aired Sunday evening and pledging to give Dale Strout a check for as much as Goose would go for at auction so he could keep Goose on the family's farm, Goose is still scheduled to be auctioned off Monday in Windsor. The anonymous donor has offered to send a check for $1,000 to Strout regardless, to put towards the proceeds going to Andrew Curtis and his family.