Two Goats Help Rescuers Find Family Trapped Beneath Tornado Debris

May 6, 2026

When a powerful tornado tore through an Oklahoma neighborhood, one family feared they had lost everything — including their beloved goats. But in a remarkable twist, those same goats may have helped save their lives.

Two pet goats saved their owners / Credit: KFOR Oklahoma

In Enid, Oklahoma, the Sloat family took cover as an EF4 tornado tore through their home, leaving it in ruins. When the storm passed, they were still alive — but unable to escape. Heavy debris had collapsed over their cellar door, sealing them inside.

“There was glass shattering, we could hear bricks falling, and our cellar door dented in,” Mary Sloat recalled.

Above ground, the destruction was total. Buildings were flattened, and the small structure that once sheltered their goats, Percy and Penny, had completely disappeared.

“There’s just a concrete slab; we didn’t even find the plywood,” Sloat said.

The family feared the worst for the goats they had raised since birth.

“These are goats that our whole family raised, and my daughter showed one of them,” she said.

But as they waited in the darkness, something unexpected happened.

“My daughter and I could have sworn that we heard goat noises, and I thought, there’s no way,” Sloat said.

What they couldn’t see was that Percy and Penny had survived, and were standing right on top of the debris pile above the cellar.

Percy and Penny / KFOR Oklahoma's News 4

When rescuers arrived, the goats caught their attention.

“He said, when we came around the back of the house, your goats were standing on the pile of bricks, and we were pretty sure that’s probably where the cellar was,” Sloat said.

That simple moment gave rescuers a crucial clue, helping them locate exactly where the family was trapped beneath the rubble and begin digging.

The Sloat family was eventually pulled to safety.

Now, as they begin rebuilding, they’re holding onto a story that still feels hard to believe.

“On days whenever they’re being ornery and they headbutt me, or they nip at my fingers, I’m going to have to remember this,” Sloat said. “I don’t know of anybody else who has a goat story like this.”