WESTBROOK — A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in the shooting death of a pregnant goat at Smiling Hill Farm.
On Feb. 18, the Scarborough Police Department received a report that an unknown person trespassed at the 781 County Road dairy farm and killed a pregnant Toggenburg doe named Ava in a fenced-in area.
“The killing of this goat was not an accident,” according to a police statement.
Ava was last seen alive at 4 p.m. Feb. 17, and was found dead the next morning at about 10 a.m during morning feeding time.
“It has been a difficult week for our farm family on the hill this week. Many of you were no doubt introduced to Ava, our goat, as she and her twins were a part of our Baby Goat Snuggling Events, and she spent the summer in our Baby Goat Petting Area of the Barnyard,” farm owner Warren Knight said in prepared statement. “We were shocked and saddened to learn of her sudden, unexpected passing.”
Knight is offering the reward for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect or suspects.
Scarborough police, assisted by the Maine Warden Service, said they have used a scent canine in their investigation and to document evidence at the scene.
Operators of the farm, which sits on 500 acres in Westbrook, Scarborough and Gorham, in a press release said they are “concerned about this type of brazen abhorrent activity in the area. As a small dairy farm with the seasonal Barnyard Animal Exhibits, the farm houses many animals of different types, all of which are integral to the farm’s current and future economic survival.
“The disturbing circumstances surrounding this crime dictate that the perpetrator be identified for the safety of the greater community. The person(s) responsible may repeat or escalate similar behavior in another venue.”
Information about the crime may be relayed through the Scarborough Police Department’s Anonymous Crime Tip Hotline at 730-4386, or to Animal Control Officer Chris Crepes at 730-4318.
Juliette Laaka can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or at jlaaka@theforecaster.net
Ava, a pregnant doe at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, was shot and killed by an unknown assailant Feb. 18.
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