A southeast Cherokee County couple is mourning the loss of their pet goat.
Gordon Clement said at least two coyotes crossed onto their property last Thursday and attacked and killed their goat, Charro.
The Clements live in extreme southeast Cherokee, have an Alpharetta mailing zip code and are stone's throw from the Fulton and Forsyth county lines.
The Clements learned of their goat's fate when Lynda Clement went out to feed their two pet goats.
One goat, Chivo, had been placed in the barn since it had recently had an injury and could not roam in the pasture. Charrro, however, was able to roam freely on the property.
When Clement went outside to feed the goat, she discovered Charro's body lying in a pool of blood. Clement said his wife came back in screaming that the goat had been eaten and slaughtered.
"Of course, it was a very devastating thing," he said. "This was a real tragedy."
The Clements had the goats for 12 years after purchasing them in Macon when they were just "babies." He said they were tamed, and people loved to come to their home and see the goats.
"They loved people and people would come out to see goats," he said, adding they both would wag their tails and lift their hooves as if to shake hands with humans. "They were so happy to see people."
Clement said he contacted both the Cherokee Sheriff's Office and Cherokee County Animal Control to assess the scene and Clement noted both agencies said coyotes were "definitely" the cause of Charro's death.
Clement also stated it's the first time he heard of coyotes existing inside the county, and noted if he was aware of the situation, he would have erected a 10-foot fence instead of a five-foot fence to protect his pets.
He also said he found it "hard to believe" that nothing can be done by the government to prevent coyotes from attacking pets.
"I’m not an expert, but it seems to me they should have some degree of concern when something like this can happen," he said.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resource's Wildlife Management Office recommends the following to prevent coyotes from attacking and killing household pets:
- bringing pets indoors at night as that's when most coyotes hunt.
- If the pet must be kept outside, put up fencing to discourage coyotes.
- Small livestock or poultry should be kept in an enclosed or sheltered area. Coyotes rarely bother larger livestock although they often are blamed for such nuisance instances. It should be noted that dogs, rather than coyotes, are notorious for harassing and attacking livestock
"Trapping and/or hunting are additional solutions against nuisance coyotes," the DNR states on its website. "Because coyotes are a non-native species in Georgia, there is no closed season for their harvest."
DNR also warns Georgia residents against feeding coyotes, keeping grills, pet food or bird feeders off-limits, cleaning and storing grills when they are not being used, feeding pets and keeping pet food indoors and refilling bird fillers infrequently or in small amounts. They also recommend making trash cans and bins inaccessible to wild animals.
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