A Chilliwack family is traumatized after someone climbed over a barbed-wire fence, onto their hobby farm, and slashed their goats while they were sleeping.
Sandra Battilana said two of her pet goats were left mutilated, and one is missing, in the wake of the bizarre incident of animal cruelty in Yarrow on Oct. 13.
“It was awful,” she said. “We’re hoping that the one that’s missing ran away. No one has seen him since it happened.”
She found a bread knife out in the field the next night and dropped it into a feed bucket to turn it over to police for DNA or fingerprint evidence.
“I hope this guy gets caught,” said Battilana. “My worry is it’s going to escalate. This is really serious.”
RCMP Cpl. Mike Rail of the UFVRD said the incident is now under investigation by police, but had scant details.
In the wake of the Oct. 13 attack, two goats survived after being slashed and stabbed. The mom said some of her neighbours have reported other somewhat similar cases of attacked or poisoned animals in the area.
Cpl. Rail confirmed there was at least one other incident reported to RCMP in October.
The goat slasher must have approached from the rear of the rural property, after crossing through a hayfield on private property and climbed over some barbed wire to attack her three goats.
The animals were assaulted less than 100 metres from the family residence.
It’s sick to think how someone could do this, said the mom.
“Such sweet little animals…I’m beside myself.”
Now her family doesn’t feel as safe as they once did in their cozy Yarrow home.
The animals were pets on a hobby farm, and the attack has meant in an expensive proposition, with vet bills and increased security on the horizon.
“This was supposed to be a place for my kids to be kids,” she said. “Yarrow is a very small community. I wanted everyone to be aware of what was happening.
She has received some solid support from online community members and neighbours who’ve reached out to her in the wake of the goat-slashing horror show, but is also hoping the police investigation will come up with something concrete.
“I heard it was not the first time, and they’re aware of someone doing this to goats and sheep,” she said. She also has chickens, ducks and a horse, which were not injured.
Online reports suggested that a sheep was hurt earlier in the month at a Boundary Road farm on Oct. 6, and her neighbours two doors down said they had some goats poisoned last week.
Chilliwack RCMP received a report Oct. 6 that a sheep had been tortured at a Boundary Road farm, and asked for help in identifying the person of interest in this crime. Anyone with any information was asked to contact Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611 or to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS).
