Judas goat

A Judas goat is a trained goat used at a slaughterhouse and in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared. Judas goats are also used to lead other animals to specific pens and on to trucks.^[1]

The term is a reference to the biblical character Judas Iscariot.^[2]

The phrase has also been used to describe a goat that is used to find feral goats that are targeted for eradication. The Judas goat is outfitted with a transmitter, painted in red and then released. The goat then finds the remaining herds of feral goats, allowing hunters to exterminate them.^[3]

The phrase was also used in World War II by the 8th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crew members. Each bomb group employed a war-weary bomber known as a formation or assembly ship. These aircraft were brightly painted and decorated with individual psychedelic colors in stripes, checkers, or polka dots enabling easy recognition by their flock of bombers in order to form up from various airbases over England and fly strategic bombing missions over Europe.^[4]

In 2009, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) was called a "Judas goat" by a Republican on C-SPAN for having allegedly "sold" her vote on the Senate health care bill in exchange for a bill provision rewarding her state $300 million in emergency Medicaid funding.^[5]

References

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