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By Kali O’Rourke

Published: Jan. 6, 2025 at 12:50 AM PST|Updated: 8 hours ago

CEDAR PARK, Texas (Gray News) – A Texas high school student is accused of killing another high schooler’s goat by force-feeding it pesticide. She allegedly told police she did so because the goat’s keeper “is a cheater.”

Aubrey Vanlandingham, a 17-year-old student at Vista Ridge High School, is charged with cruelty to livestock animals after she allegedly killed another teenager’s goat. Both Vanlandingham and the goat’s keeper were part of the Future Farmers of America organization, according to KXAN.

The alleged incident happened Oct. 23 at the high school’s barn in Cedar Park, Texas, where police say security video shows a student giving a toxic pesticide to a goat named Willie. The goat died about 21 hours later after experiencing symptoms including convulsions and respiratory distress, KEYE reports.

An affidavit filed by a Wiliamson County detective in November states that the goat’s cause of death was confirmed to be intoxication from a kind of pesticide known as phosmet, according to The New York Times.

Vanlandingham originally denied responsibility for the goat’s death but later confessed to having fed it pesticide, the affidavit said. She allegedly told the detective the goat’s keeper “is a cheater,” and she “doesn’t like cheaters.”

The affidavit also said the 17-year-old’s phone records showed she had searched multiple pesticides and phrases such as “can straight bleach kill goats,” “how much bleach kills a goat,” and “how to clear search history,” as reported by The New York Times.

Police say Vanlandingham admitted this was her second attempt to poison the goat, KEYE reports.

Vanlandingham was arrested Nov. 22 and later posted a $5,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 15.

Cruelty to livestock animals is a felony and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $10,000 penalty, according to The New York Times.

By 

Caitlin McCormack

Published Jan. 5, 2025, 10:16 p.m. ET67 Comments

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Over 200 snow geese found across Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania are suspected to have been killed by the bird flu, and experts are concerned the death toll could climb even higher as cases continue to skyrocket.

The birds were found at the Lower Nazareth Township in Northhampton County and Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County, 6ABC reported. The two sites are just over 20 miles apart.

Early testing has identified the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, in some of the geese, but the results still need to be ratified by the US Department of Agriculture before they can be officially confirmed as new avian influenza cases.

Infected, but still living birds were also found at both sites.

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“We just hope that these mortality events that we recorded don’t signal something worse is on the way,” Travis Lau, the spokesperson with the Pennsylvania Game Commission that is investigating the cases, told the local ABC affiliate station.

Many birds that catch avian influenza are often humanely euthanized since there is no known cure or treatment for the disease in animals. It often takes less than a day for the disease to kill an infected bird.

“It’s devastating, and to know that other animals are eating those dead bodies, it’s a terrible domino effect. I mean you have eagles. We saw eagles flying above there. They’re feeding on these dead bodies, they’re contracting it,” Janine Tancredi, co-executive director at the Wilderz at Pocono Wildlife, told the news station.

Bird flu cases have been soaring across the country in every animal from the eponymous birds to cows to house cats — and humans have also been infected.

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A total of 66 human cases have been reported nationwide. In 2024, California saw the most cases of any state with 36 confirmed cases resulting from exposure to infected cattle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California also saw raw milk recalls because of products contaminated by bird flu.

Nearly 11,000 wild birds have been infected with bird flu since January 2022, according to the CDC. A whopping 129,795,101 poultry have been infected since Februrary 2022, and all 50 states have seen outbreaks resulting from infected poultry.

DNR

Posted Saturday, January 4, 2025 6:00 am

STAFF REPORT

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, in conjunction with the South Carolina Trappers Association, will host a Coyote Trapping and Management Workshop at Webb Wildlife Center, in Hampton County, on March 13-14.

Sign-in and registration will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, and the workshop will start promptly at 2 p.m. The workshop will end at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The cost for the workshop is $115, which includes workshop materials, overnight bunkhouse-style accommodations at Webb Wildlife Center, dinner on Thursday and breakfast and lunch on Friday.

The workshop is limited to the first 30 applicants submitting an application and payment (check or money orders only).

Registered foresters who take and complete the workshop may qualify for Category 2 Continuing Forestry Education (CFE) credits through the Society of American Foresters (Pending approval from SAF. Past workshops were 10.5 hours).