An Northern California couple who claimed a $2 million Scratchers prize this week attributed their good fortune to a pet goat named Bucky and now plan to use part of their winnings to improve their animal rescue farm.
Beverly and Jim Evens now live in Anderscon just south of Redding. They claimed their Extravaganza Scratchers prize at the California Lottery's Sacramento district office Tuesday.
Bucky was the goat that inspired them to start an animal rescue farm in Riverside County several years ago.
After rescuing and bottle-feeding Bucky, the couple began rescuing other animals, including horses and chickens.
But 2 1/2 years ago, with 46 goats and six horses on their farm, Riverside County officials threatened to shut down their operations, forcing them to relocate to Anderson, lottery officials said.
"It all started with Bucky," said Beverly Evens in a news release. "If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have started rescuing animals and we wouldn't have moved up here. It's because of him that we are here and we bought this ticket!"
The couple plans to use a portion of their prize money to build new horse fences, fix stables and improve their goat pens.
"We are very low-maintenance people," Beverly Evens told the lottery. "They way we look at it, as long as the animals are happy, so are we."
KCRA.com contributed to this report.
