Goats and sheep clean the streetsーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS #shorts

In an effort to raise interest in street beautification, goats and sheep joined elementary school students on a prefectural road in Mito City on January 23. Together, they removed weeds and cleaned up the environment around the road.

The “Goat Weeding Team” activity was started this year by the Ibaraki Prefectural Government to get children interested in street beautification efforts by letting them work together with animals.

On this day, five goats and three sheep raised on a farm in Ishioka City joined approximately 120 fifth graders from the nearby Yoshizawa Elementary School. The students guided the animals, which ate weeds growing on the side of the road, for 400 meters.

The children said they enjoyed petting the animals and feeding them the weeds they had pulled out as they cleaned up the road. One student said, “I was surprised that the goats and sheep ate more weeds than I expected. Another said, “It was fun not only to cut the grass but also to feed it to the goats. I think we were able to clean the road together.

Omori Mitsuru, director of the Ibaraki Prefecture Mito Public Works Office, noted that, “The prefectural government is weeding and cleaning the roads it manages, but we are not doing enough. I want everyone to be aware that the roads they use every day are their own, and to pick up trash when they see it.”

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