Owner offers $5K reward after purebred goats go missing from Queen's County property

A distraught Queen's County woman is offering a $5,000 reward if three purebred Toggenburg goats that went missing last month are returned alive. 

Sheila Sinnott said the goats, named Belinda, Lily and Ivy, vanished from her Mill Village property sometime around June 21 and have not been seen since. 

The goats are tan coloured with white legs and white markings down their face. 

The goats were kept in an enclosure next to Sinnott's house surrounded by an electric fence. They used a small goat shed for shelter, Sinnott told CBC Radio Information Morning Halifax host Portia Clark.

Sinnott, a realtor who works irregular hours, said she first realized the goats were missing around noon on June 22 when she went to feed them treats.

"I think they disappeared on Tuesday, June 21. I was gone for a long time that day and tied up until after dark," she said.

"They couldn't have disappeared overnight because my dog would have raised hell. I have a border collie and I didn't hear anything."

Reported to police

After searching through the fields and nearby woods, Sinnott said she checked with neighbours and reported the matter to the RCMP.

She said she also called meat processors in the area and posted about the missing goats online.  

Sinnott said she's a bit frustrated there's been no progress in the case even though she knows police "have bigger fish to fry."

She said she is certain the goats did not jump out of the enclosure as no insulators on the electric fence were disturbed. 

One of the goats, Ivy, had escaped the enclosure to get at the apple tree twice last summer, Sinnott said, but she broke an insulator or wire in the process each time. 

Sinnott said a bear also could not have gotten into the enclosure without causing damage to the fence, and there would have been evidence of carnage left behind. 

Noting that whoever has the goats now may not be the person who took them, Sinnott said she just wants them back.

"If anyone has a neighbour who has seen someone with some new goats, it may well be my goats," she said.

"I would pay — no questions asked — $5,000 to have my three goats back alive." 

Popular attraction

According to Sinnott, the goats are popular with people passing through the area who often stop to admire them and take photos.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Chris Marshall confirmed that police responded to the reported theft.

Marshall said livestock thefts are rare in Queens County with only one other theft reported in 2017, though in that case the goat was found and had not been stolen. 

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