#!/usr/bin/env perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my @array=();
$array[0][0] = "ape";
$array[0][1] = "bear";
$array[0][2] = "cat";
$array[1][0] = "dog";
$array[1][1] = "emu";
$array[1][2] = "fox";
$array[2][0] = "goat";
$array[2][1] = "horse";
$array[2][2] = "ibex";

for (qw{goat gout dog goatee ape}, "goat's milk") {
    my $found = search_col(\@array, 0, $_);

    print "'$_' ",
        (defined $found
            ? "found on row $found"
            : 'not found'
        ),
        "\n";
}

sub search_col {
    my ($array, $col, $search) = @_;

    my $result;

    for my $row (0 .. $#$array) {
        next unless $array->[$row][$col] eq $search;
        $result = $row;
        last;
    }

    return $result;
}

##</code><code>##

'goat' found on row 2
'gout' not found
'dog' found on row 1
'goatee' not found
'ape' found on row 0
'goat's milk' not found