Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a country goat massacre on Thursday.
According to an incident report, Deputy John Haynes responded to a call at 11:22 a.m. about a possible dispute among neighbors in the 13000 block of County Road 22.
Thomas Comisky told the deputy that he found his neighbor’s dog attacking his goats that morning and had shot it after he couldn’t scare it off. Two kid goats and one adult were killed, and Comisky said he would have to kill three other goats because of their severe injuries. The dog’s owner, Cody Lopez, agreed to pay for the goats, and no charges were filed.
Haynes said that by the time he reached Comisky’s property, two kid goats and a white husky were “obviously deceased” inside the goat pen, and two other kids appeared to be mortally injured. An adult female goat was found dead in a ditch elsewhere on the property, and Comisky said he found another goat that would need to be put down. He valued the adult goats at $200 each, and the kids at $120 each.
Two other kid goats were injured, but Comisky said he thought they would survive.
Comisky said that when he first saw the dog with one of his goats in its mouth, he fired a warning shot into the ground to scare it off. When the dog didn’t drop the animal, he shot it twice.
The incident was initially resolved when Lopez agreed to pay for his dog’s attacks, about $880 total. Comisky agreed that he wouldn’t press charges.
But the case might have legal consequences.
Sheriff Steve Nowlin said his office would likely charge Lopez with ownership of a dangerous dog anyway, in order to make sure that Comisky is reimbursed for his loss.
“We just want people to be responsible pet owners, take care of their dogs, and not let them run loose,” Nowlin said.