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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Dwayne Wohlgemuth is living proof of the adage that you can take the boy from the farm, but you'll never, ever get the farm out of the boy.

"I grew up on a farm with animals, so it seems only natural to have them," said Wohlgemuth, whose eye-catching, energy efficient home at 49 Avenue and 45 Street also shelters two goats.

Annie and Cleo, short for Anastasia and Cleopatra, don't actually live in the house with Wohlgemuth and his partner, Mary Kelly.

The nanny and kid share a dumpster, tipped on its side to form a solid shelter, shaded by Arctic willow in a yard corralled by a 1.5 metre wood and wire fence.

They dine on hay and vegetable scraps, willow branches; and are especially fond of the tender new growth of wild roses, but like goats everywhere, will eat just about anything, said Wohlgemuth.

Despite their endearing names and natures, Annie and Cleo are farm animals, not pets. In return for room and board, the goats are expected to produce milk.

When the time comes, they will be artificially inseminated, avoiding the need for the services of a cantankerous billy. The offspring will be kept for milk or slaughtered for meat.

Using the dumpster as a goat shelter neatly side-stepped the need for constructing a shed that would have required a building permit and inspection from the city.

According to city planner Randy Spearing, there is nothing in city bylaws that prohibits keeping chickens or domestic animals, but complaints from neighbours could prompt a response from the city, although it's not clear what that might be.

"I don't know how bylaw or planning would respond if urban farming started to draw complaints," he said. "Other cities have been responding to demand; either dealing with complaints from neighbours, or through people applying for permission," said Spearing.

"We prefer the latter, but it's a grey area: not prohibited or permitted."

Wohlgemuth didn't ask, and happily for him, he said the neighbours like the goats. Also an avid gardener, he's making inquiries about starting a Saskatoon berry plantation, and is curious about rearing pigs as well.

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