Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: 10 goats found strangled

10 goats found strangled
Shingle Springs, CA (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Nov 30, 2005
County: El Dorado
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted
Charges: Felony CTA

Abuser/Suspect: Ryan Troyer

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 7812

Classification: Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation

Animal: goat

View more cases in CA (US)

A Folsom man is being held in El Dorado County jail in lieu of $1 million bail after being arraigned March 21, 2006 for allegedly strangling 10 goats raised on a ranch in the Shingle Springs area.

Ryan Troyer, 22, was charged with 10 felony counts of animal cruelty and one count of grand theft. Henry Brzezinski, the county's chief of animal control, said the grand theft charge was based on the value of the goats. Brzezinski declined to discuss details of the case, saying it is still under investigation. He said Animal Control employees were called in to assist the Sheriff's Department in collecting evidence over the weekend. He said the bodies of 10 goats were found and are undergoing necropsies.

Brzezinski alleged that Troyer strangled the goats over a three-month period beginning in December 2005. Sheriff's Lt. Marc Adams said the goats belonged to the family of Troyer's former girlfriend. He said the family contacted the Sheriff's Department on March 18, 2006 after Troyer told the woman that he had taken goats from a Shingle Springs ranch, killed them and disposed of them at various locations. Adams said Troyer was arrested early on March 18, 2006 at a Cameron Park convenience store.

In addition to the charges, the judge's order stated that Troyer "cannot own, possess, care or be around animals" and that his residence is subject to search, according to a county Public Health Department news release issued. A representative of the District Attorney's Office was not available for comment. Anyone with information about the case can contact Animal Control at (530) 621-5795.

Case Updates

Ryan Troyer of El Dorado confessed and was convicted of kidnapping, killing and mutilating goats that lived on a Shingle Springs farm. Troyer scattered the animal carcasses across the county, including at a cemetery and animal control offices.

Troyer will spend nine years in prison.

Source: KCRA - Aug 23, 2006
Update posted on Aug 23, 2006 - 2:41PM

Back to Top

A man who allegedly admitted to strangling 10 Nigerian dwarf goats at Shingle Springs ranch told investigators if he had not been caught, he might have started killing people, according to police reports. "It's probably a good thing that you caught me now," said 22-year-old Ryan Troyer, according to the report. "I might have started killing people. I'm not saying that I wanted to or had any plans to. I'm just saying."

Meanwhile, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked District Attorney Gary Lacy to require Troyer to undergo psychoanalysis followed by mandatory counseling, and be banned for life from contact with animals. "Mental health professionals and top law enforcement officials consider cruelty to animals to be a red flag," reads the letter to the DA's office from PETA researcher Dan Paden. "The American Psychiatric Association identifies cruelty to animals as one of the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders, and the FBI uses reports of these crimes in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known criminals. Experts agree that it is the severity of the behavior - not the species of the victim - that matters."

His arraignment was March 21, 2006, and at that time the El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Jerald M. Lasarow bumped his bail from $150,000 to $1 million and also ordered that Troyer not "own, possess, care or be around animals."

The family has been granted anonymity after speaking with Placerville's newspaper, the Mountain Democrat, and providing valid reasons to be so. The patriarch of the family told the Mountain Democrat that he believed at first that a mountain lion was killing and dragging off his prize-winning Nigerian dwarf goats, valued at $500 to $1,000 each. The family called out the county trapper three times to look for the mountain lion and put up an eight-foot electrified fence around the goats' area on their property off Green Valley Road but the goats kept disappearing. In addition to the 10 goats killed, he said, three others were injured. Frustrated with the losses, the family moved the remaining goats (babies and expectant moms) into the garage. On the night of March 18, 2006, the ex-girlfriend of the suspect walked into her garage and found Troyer petting a goat, according to an El Dorado County sheriff's report.
After she entered the garage, the goat ran from Troyer, indicating to her there might be something suspicious going on. Troyer then allegedly confessed. She later told her parents and they called authorities.

When approached by deputies at the Circle K on Cameron Park Drive at 12:30 a.m. on March 19, 2006, the report states that Troyer at first denied knowing what happened to the goats but later admitted to killing them. "I got issues," Troyer supposedly told deputies.
Troyer explained that the first goat was "a mistake" and things escalated from there, according to the report. He was dating the daughter at the time of the killings. They broke up a couple weeks prior to the arrest. The report states that Troyer also told deputies, "I just acted on what I was told to do inside and something inside told me to choke them. It's an urge."

Animal Control is assisting the Sheriff's Department in the case, recovering some evidence, according to Chief Animal Control Officer Henry Brzezinski. The animals' carcasses were found in different areas of the county, including a residential neighborhood in Camino and in a graveyard near Union Mine High School. Though still mourning the loss, the family does see a silver lining. The female goats are due to give birth soon, the father said, and the county fair, where the family's goats have won time and again, is coming up.

Source: Tahoe Daily Tribune - March 29, 2006
Update posted on Mar 31, 2006 - 8:25PM

Back to Top

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

References

	Sac Bee News - March 22, 2006
	Tahoe Daily Tribune - March 23, 2006

« CA State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.

Site Map ¤ Disclaimer ¤ Privacy Policy

10 goats found strangledShingle Springs, CA (US)

Case Updates

Neighborhood Map

References

10 goats found strangled
Shingle Springs, CA (US)