Ron Paul speaks at Pinnacle Center

Ron Paul speaks in Hudsonville, Mich. in this MLive file photo.

(MLive file | Matt Gade)

DETROIT, MI -- Former presidential candidate and libertarian stalwart Ron Paul has spoken up in favor of using goats to clean up overgrown properties in Detroit.

The city last week ordered the removal of 18 goats from a Brightmoor neighborhood where Mark Spitznagel, who is president of Miami-based Universa Investments and owns a farm in northern Michigan, had them placed to address overgrown weeds.

Their presence violated the city laws on farming.

But Paul, calling Spitznagel a friend in a video posted on the conservative former congressman's blog, expressed support for the cost-free way to clean up vacant lots in the city.

"The government wants to say whether or not you can clean up the city on your own," he said.

"These goats are doing a better job than the politicians are doing... I don't think it's such a bad idea."

Paul said he lived in Detroit for two years in the 1960s while training at Henry Ford Hospital after medical school.

He also spoke about the fiscal policy and the city's bankruptcy in the seven-minute video.

Detroit City Council last year passed an urban agriculture ordinance last year, sanctioning many gardening projects throughout the city, but leaving out livestock.

Some urban farming advocates planned to make a push this year to extend the ordinance and allow some farm animals in the city.

City Council briefly discussed the use of goats to address overgrowth last year.

There have been some urban farming operations in the city that have managed to keep goats, chickens and ducks in small numbers while staying under the radar.

But keeping livestock in Detroit remains illegal.

"You cannot pick and choose which law to enforce," the city's top lawyer Melvin "Butch" Hollowell told the Detroit News after the removal of Spitznagel's goats.