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A goat that eats meat and drinks too!

If you think goats are vegetarian, you haven't yet met Mantu - a male goat here that eats meat and drinks liquor.

The two-and-a-half-year-old goat lives at the Sana Bada Dhaba, a roadside eatery here, 350 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

'The animal has been living in the dhaba since its birth and slowly developed the habit of eating non-vegetarian food,' dhaba owner Sana Naik, who named the goat, told IANS.

Mantu does not like grass - the staple diet of other goats. 'The goat eats the cooked meat of other goats that we serve to customers,' he said. 'Because of its peculiar habits, we are not killing it.'

The goat also drinks liquor. It obeys commands like monkeys.

'If you ask it to perform a death scene, it will lie on the ground as if dead. You ask it to show a fight scene, it will demonstrate like a warrior,' he said.

The goat amuses customers and they share their food with it.

'The goat is the main attraction of the eatery,' said Satya Mohanty, a frequent visitor. 'Whenever we come to this area, we love to eat in this dhaba because of the goat,' he said.

'Goats are generally vegetarian. They eat grass, fruit and vegetables. But some of them that live with humans for a long time develop habits like humans,' Subhendru Sudha Sarangi, a veterinary doctor, told IANS. Sarangi too loves the meat-eating goat and treats him free of cost.

But perhaps the person who loves Mantu the most is dhaba owner Naik.

'I love the goat so much. It is like my own child. I am looking for a female goat as its bride,' Naik said. 'I am planning to organise the marriage in a big way, may be next August.

'I will also host a grand feast. My customers, who include ministers, legislators, officials, businessmen and journalists, have assured me that they will join the feast and bless the goat couple.'