Portland, Ore. – It’s a short walk from Matt Minnick’s farm to the stretch of fencing at the end of his property.
“This is the fence that the developers put in and that was one of the holes,” Minnick explained.
He says the problem may have started there, when his fence was ripped out by a new home developer about two-and-a-half years ago. He described a new fence in its place.
“Goats are escape artists and I’m the farmer, I see this as partly my fault because I didn’t keep a closer eye on my perimeter.”
Officials called Minnick to a new area of housing Sunday morning.
Minnick said, “When I walked up he was right here there was one officer right here. The goat was there huffin and puffin.”
Minnick said he told deputies he was on his way he never expected to see Volt bleeding.
“And they say, ‘Yeah it was either me or the goat.’ And I said, ‘Man there are 7-year-old kids that deal with these goats and infants that deal with these. He’s not dangerous.’”
Sgt. Dave Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said, “I think if it’d been an issue where they could’ve just left him alone and waited for the farmer they would’ve done that but they felt like they couldn’t let the animals get any further into the neighborhood.”
Officials said they corralled the goat in a field, but the deputy felt threatened by the goat’s size and horns.
“Volt was about like this guy,” Minnick said, pointing to a nearby horned goat. “He was about the same as him. Little thicker, little thicker.”
Officials also feared for the safety of the neighbors around him.
Now Minnick says he has to find a new breeding male for his farm. “it’s tough, it’s tough.”
A spokesman with the sheriff’s office says the deputy made several attempts to stop the goat and had no other choice but to shoot it.
Meanwhile, Minnick says he is going to file a claim with the sheriff’s office for damages.
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