Owner cited for having farm animal in city
By Tim Ruzek
truzek@postbulletin.com
Police spoke on Monday with a 37-year-old man who claimed ownership of a goat that was found two days earlier dying in a northeast Austin garage.
An officer cited Abraham Palma Hernandez for harboring a farm animal in the city and told him that he would have to pay the veterinarian’s bill for euthanizing the goat, which occurred Saturday, Police Chief Paul Philipp said.
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A 49-year-old woman, who found the dying animal in her garage Saturday afternoon, called police Monday when she saw the property’s owner, Hernandez, moving a truck there.
Hernandez told police he had owned the goat since July and had been keeping it at a rural property, Philipp said. Hernandez said he took the goat to the Austin residence on Wednesday because the animal was sick.
The report says Hernandez showed the officer medicine he’d purchased at a local veterinary clinic for the goat and said he had left food and water for the animal, including a bucket of oats.
Hernandez lives in the same block where the goat was found, the 900 block of Seventh Avenue Northeast.
It appeared to the officer, Philipp said, that Hernandez was trying to medicate and care for the goat.
Police initially went to the residence Saturday after the woman reported hearing moaning coming from the garage of her residence, where she had been living for about a week. She initially thought the animal was a dog.
An officer discovered the animal was a male goat lying on the garage floor, with manure imbedded in its fur and ribs showing.
A veterinarian told police it appeared the goat had not eaten for a significant amount of time and had been lying on the ground for several weeks.
