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Reward offered in shooting of Smiling Hill Farm goat

Police say shooting of Ava the goat was no accident

SCARBOROUGH (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Police in two Maine communities are asking for the public’s help investigating the shooting deaths of farm animals.

In the town of Madison, a cow was shot at close range at River Road Farm.

In Scarborough, a pregnant goat was shot and killed at Smiling Hill Farm. Police say it was no accident. Ava the goat was a popular animal at the farm, taking part in "hug-a-goat" events and yoga classes.

The shooting happened last weekend during a snowstorm on the Scarborough side of Smiling Hill Farm. It has left people at the farm shaken. Owner Warren Knight told NEWS CENTER Maine he and staff members are devastated. "We can’t wrap our heads around this. It’s disturbing.”

Another farm owner says she knows what they’re going through.

“Well it’s certainly brought back memories of what happened to my animals,” said Daria Goggins.

A little more than two years ago someone came onto Goggins farm in Richmond and killed two of her cows using a crossbow. She says people can become very attached to their animals.

“The relationship of the goat to the people who operate smiling farm and the people who came out to the property for yoga and hugging sessions, it’s a very close personal relationship that many people develop with their animals,” she said.

The person who killed her cows remains a mystery, but she's so committed to finding out who did it she has hired a private investigator.

“It’s also a terrible shock to find an animal that you loved and cared for lying dead, obviously at someone else’s hands. It’s a very dark, ugly, evil type of crime,” she said.

Like the shooting of Ava at Smiling Hill Farms, the killing of her cows was premeditated and there were no witnesses, making these types of crimes very difficult to solve without help from the public.

“You really need to rely on people who are close to the individual who committed the crime and who may have firsthand knowledge of the act,” she said.

Goggins is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone with information that leads to the identification and apprehension of the person responsible.

Smiling Hill Farm is offering a $1,000 reward for information about the person who shot Ava. The owner tells says that reward could increase if police think it will bring in leads.

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