The Goats Are ________

The goats are severed and tortured for testing purposes, the same as Miss Cobel's rat was in the unaired pilot script (and the same as animals are used for pre-human testing in real life).

In the Severance pilot script "Mister", which shows the original story before being made into a show (a different version of events but presumably within the same overall story framework), Cobel is seen torturing a severed "innie rat" to demonstrate that the "outie rat" is unaffected by the torture and even remains affectionate towards her. It's an important plot point in the pilot.

When they modified the script to turn it into a show, presumably the rats were replaced by the goats. It explains a lot.

So the way it works, in this theory:

  • goats are " nurtured" to be affectionate and calm
  • at a certain point in time, once they're "ready" goats are severed
  • "outie goats" live in the pasture among humans.
  • when a goat passes through the little crawl way, their severance chip turns on.
  • severed "innie goats" are then tortured, in the presence of humans and maybe also in the presence of the black goat-costumed man.
  • they then go back through the tube to the grassy area, where they become "outies" again
  • the lady with the desk is there to monitor for signs of behavior change, especially in the presence of their torturers, which might indicate some leakage

 What this explains:

  • why the man with the bottle was so defensive and scared in saying "they're not ready" (He knows what lies in wait for them: torture)
  • why the crawl-through tunnel (same as elevator for humans)
  • why the department is called "mammalians nurturable" (Presumably they also test non-mammalians, and presumably the "nurture" is part if the test platform)
  • why the black goat costume (a distinct and recognizable figure to test for bleed through)
  • why everyone in the goat department has a 1,000 yard stare (they're involved in animal torture)
  • why wellness sessions were needed for the goat team (trauma from inflicting torture)
  • why they need to keep goats hidden from the public on a severed floor (otherwise, if they were just going to kill them or eat them etc, why not keep them topside where it's much cheaper)