John Jefferson
A teenager in Texas is facing a felony charge after allegedly killing a rival competitor’s show goat a couple of months ago.
An arrest affidavit showed 17-year-old Aubrey Vanlandingham, who competes in livestock shows with her own goat, allegedly admitted to poisoning Willy, a younger competitor’s goat, CBS Austin reported.
Vanlandingham is accused of using a drench gun to force-feed Willy a toxic pesticide inside the Vista Ridge High School’s barn facility on Oct. 23, ultimately killing the 6-month-old goat, according to the outlet. Security footage allegedly showed the goat trying to escape the encounter.
The teenager was allegedly seen leaving Willy and returning to check on him two separate times during a two-hour period before calling the rival competitor’s mother to tell her the goat wasn’t doing well.
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Willy died in his owner’s arms within 24 hours after experiencing convulsions and respiratory distress, CBS Austin said.
Vanlandingham allegedly admitted to killing her rival’s goat because she thought the 15-year-old was “a cheater,” the outlet reported from the arrest affidavit. She had tried to kill Willy before, but was unsuccessful.
Willy’s cause of death was determined to be organophosphate intoxication from phosmet, a pesticide used for external parasite control in livestock.
The mother of the 15-year-old girl told the DailyMail that Vanlandingham doesn’t appear to be remorseful.
“It’s all bizarre. We want justice served, we don’t want a slap on the wrist. We want to make sure that she is punished. At this point, we don’t feel like she thinks she’s going to be punished and she needs to be. She needs to take ownership for what she’s done,” she told the outlet, adding that they want her to go to jail and get mental help.
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A police investigation into Vanlandingham’s phone revealed that she allegedly searched for information on lethal doses of bleach for animals and poisoning methods, according to CBS Austin. She also allegedly searched “how to clear search history.”
The 15-year-old’s mother determined Vanlandingham’s alleged crime was fueled by jealousy, not cheating.
“You can’t even cheat when it comes to showing goats,” she told the DailyMail. “It makes no sense, so that’s where the jealousy really kind of falls into place.”
Vanlandingham was charged with cruelty to livestock animals, which is a felony in Texas punishable by up to two years in prison. She was arrested on Nov. 22 and released on a $5,000 bond the same day, jail records show.
Her court date is set for Jan. 15.
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