A Texas teen is facing a felony animal cruelty charge after a rival competitor’s show goat was poisoned.
Investigators said in an affidavit that Aubrey Layne Vanlandingham, 17, of Cedar Park was seen on surveillance video forcibly squirting a substance — later identified as a pesticide — multiple times into the mouth of the goat at the Vista Ridge High School barn, according to Austin news outlet KVUE-TV.
The report said Vanlandingham then contacted the family of the animal’s owner “saying it wasn’t acting right.”
The goat was taken to an animal hospital for symptoms that included coughing, shaking, and diarrhea. It died the next day.
The veterinarian who did the necropsy on the animal said “the smell of pesticide permeated the room” after its stomach was opened.
The teen first denied causing the death, but later admitted to investigators that she poisoned the animal, claiming its caretaker “was a cheater” and she “doesn’t like cheaters,” KDFW-TV reported.
Investigators said they obtained a search warrant for Vanlandingham’s phone and discovered searches for “If goats inject bleach do they die,” “How much bleach kills a goat,” and “How to clear search history.”
The U.K.’s Daily Mail interviewed the mother of the 15-year-old owner of Willy, the deceased goat.
“She’s saying it’s because of cheating. But from what we’ve deciphered, she was just really jealous,” the anonymous mom told the news outlet.
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“You can’t even cheat when it comes to showing goats,” added the younger girl’s mother. “It makes no sense, so that’s where the jealousy really kind of falls into place.
“They weren’t friends, and my daughter is a lot younger, so they didn’t really interact at all, so that’s what’s even more bizarre.”
She said the incident was “very traumatic” for her daughter.
“We were there when he passed away. My daughter was actually holding him,” she said.
The mom said she doesn’t believe Vanlandingham has any remorse for her alleged actions.
“We hope that she has to serve jail time and she gets some kind of mental help,” she added. “We want justice served, we don’t want a slap on the wrist. We want to make sure that she is punished.
“She needs to take ownership for what she’s done.”
Vanlandigham, a senior, was a cheerleader and president of the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter. She has been banned from the school while the case is pending, the Daily Mail reported.
She was arrested after the Oct. 23 incident and charged with one felony count of cruelty to livestock, which carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine.
Vanlandigham was released on $5,000 bond and is due back in court Jan. 15, KDFW reported.
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