PORTLAND, OR – A farmer in northwest Portland is upset after a Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and killed his goat when it escaped Sunday morning.
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 said.
He says the problem may have started at the fence when it was ripped out by new home developers about two and half years ago. Since then, new fence has took 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,” said Minnick.
Deputies called Minnick out to a new area of housing Sunday morning.
“When I walked up, he was right here, there was one officer right here. The goat was there huffin’ and puffin’,” Minnick explained.
Minnick says he told deputies he was on his way but he never expected to see his goat, 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. Infants that deal with these,'” said Minnick.
Minnick says Volt was his breeding male on the farm. A $1,200 rare breed from New Zealand that Minnick says is known for its calm temperament.
“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 farther into the neighborhood,” said Sgt. Dave Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say they corralled the goat in the field, but the deputy felt threatened by the goat’s size and horns. The deputy also feared for the safety of the neighbors around him.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office spokesman says the deputy who shot the goat had no other choice after making several attempts to stop it.
Now, Minnick says he has to find a new breeding male for his farm.
“It’s tough, it’s tough,”
Minnick says he’ll be making a claim with the county for damages.
Source: http://www.kptv.com