Three Pet Goats Mutilated--Roanoke Man Face Charges

A Roanoke man is facing charges in the death of three goats.

The owner of the goats tells WFFT the young man charged for slaughtering his goats' lives nearby and says he doesn't understand why his goats were targeted. 

 "I was sick to my stomach.   My heart goes out to the family who owns these goats.  Anytime we here of a situation where animals are brutalized and in this case slaughtered it is heart wrenching," said Jessica Henry with the Allen County Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

The owner of the goats says he went out back to feed his goats Thursday morning when he noticed them bleeding from stab wounds.  He added that  police were able to track footprints from the barn to a nearby house belonging to 19-year-old Tanner Macy.

 He was charged with three felony counts of torturing or mutilating an animal and he faces one count of obstructing justice for allegedly trying to remove evidence from the crime scene.  

"There's a grief and loss associated anytime we lose an animal," said Henry. 

The owner says he's devastated that his pet goats are now dead.  Henry says loosing three pets in such a viscous way can be difficult to cope with. 

"They have to process not just the loss of their animals but also the psychology of why someone would do that to their animals," said Henry. 

Henry says people who commit crimes against animals have the potential to do much more harm. 

"Anytime someone hurts an animal I think there's cause for concern that that person can then turn around and hurt humans later," said Henry.