Attack on CdA goats leaves 2 dead, 1 wounded

Coeur d’Alene police are investigating an attack on three goats the city uses to knock down weeds at city water well enclosures. One goat was found dead and nearly decapitated this morning, a second had to be put down today, and a third survived with serious injuries, according to police and Quintin Forte, the owner of the goats. Police and animal control officers found the goats this morning at the Honeysuckle well in the 600 block of Kathleen Avenue, near Coeur d’Alene High School. “It’s awful,” said Jim Markley, superintendent of the city water department. The city, which also has used the goats to control weeds on Tubbs Hill, has not seen the goats harmed since it began using them in 2012, Markley said. Forte removed the remaining goats from the fenced well site today. He has a contract with the city to rotate the goats through city properties for weed control. The goats eat a wide variety of weeds and plants, providing an inexpensive alternative to herbicides. “I never would have thought in a million years I would have a problem like this, you know,” Forte said. One of the goats was stabbed in the stomach and suffered broken ribs, he said. The Boer breed animals are about 2 feet tall and weigh 30-50 pounds. Sixteen were placed inside the 4-acre well site Monday at 5 p.m. The fence is locked and the assailant would have to climb over it to reach the animals, police said. “This was the last job that we were doing. I dropped them off last night and I was going to pick them up this afternoon,” Forte said. Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Coeur d’Alene Police at (208) 769-2320 or email the tip line at policetips@cdaid.org.