Texas Teen Killed Goat at School Barn Used for Livestock Contests, Police Say

A 17-year-old Texas girl has been charged with animal cruelty after she killed another teenager’s goat by force-feeding it pesticide because she believed the goat’s keeper was a “cheater,” according to the authorities.

The girl, Aubrey Vanlandingham, was questioned at Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park near Austin, Texas, by a law enforcement officer. The school has a livestock barn where the goat was found dead on Oct. 24, 2024. The school also has a robust partnership with Future Farmers of America, an agriculture education nonprofit that allows students to maintain animals and enter their livestock into competitions. The goat’s keeper appeared to be a part of the group.

Ms. Vanlandingham originally denied responsibility but later confessed to having fed pesticide to the multicolored goat, named Willie, which resulted in the goat’s swift and painful death, according to an affidavit and arrest warrant filed by a detective in Williamson County in November.

Ms. Vanlandingham was arrested on Nov. 22 and later posted a $5,000 bond, according to court records. She agreed to not have any contact with the family that owned and kept Willie. She also agreed to not look after any animals but may look after her own pets under adult supervision.

Ms. Vanlandingham’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking a comment on Friday evening. Ms. Vanlandingham is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 15.

Cruelty to livestock animals, a felony, carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $10,000 penalty.

It was not immediately clear who had first called the authorities to investigate Willie’s death. But Ms. Vanlandingham came onto the detective’s radar in large part because of a conversation that the detective had with Willie’s keeper and the keeper’s mother, the affidavit shows.

On Oct. 23, the keeper fed a perfectly healthy Willie in the school’s barn, she told the detective. Later that day, the keeper’s mother received a call and a text from Ms. Vanlandingham, who said that “Willie was acting funny and shaking or convulsing,” the affidavit said. The mother went to the school’s barn, found Willie suffering and took Willie to a veterinary clinic. The clinic provided instructions, and the mother then returned the goat to the barn. Willie’s condition worsened, the mother told the detective, and the goat died the next day in her child’s arms.

During a necropsy, the goat’s stomach was opened, and immediately, “the smell of pesticide permeated the room,” the veterinary doctor told the detective. The stomach’s contents were sent to a veterinary laboratory at Texas A&M University, and the cause of death was confirmed to be intoxication from a kind of pesticide known as phosmet, the affidavit said.

The detective also reviewed video footage from the high school’s barn on Oct. 23 that showed a girl holding the goat’s head “as she forces the syringe like item into the goat’s mouth,” the affidavit said. In several instances, she held the goat and force-fed it an unknown substance through the syringe. She also appeared to take photos or videos of the goat, according to the affidavit.

On Oct. 29, the detective met with Ms. Vanlandingham at Vista Ridge High School. She told the detective that “she injected pesticide into Willie’s mouth because” the goat’s keeper “is a cheater” and Ms. Vanlandingham “doesn’t like cheaters,” the affidavit said. The reason for the cheating allegation was not immediately clear.

A review of Ms. Vanlandingham’s phone records showed that she had looked up different pesticides, the affidavit said. She also searched phrases that included “How much bleach can kill an animal,” “Can straight bleach kill goats,” “How much bleach kills a goat” and “How to clear search history.”

In a statement to KXAN, a local television station, the Texas Future Farmers of America branch said, “Texas F.F.A. does not condone any behavior that compromises ethical standards, animal welfare or the integrity of its programs.”

The school district that includes Vista Ridge High School declined to comment on the specifics of the case in a statement to KXAN.