Vancouver feed store seeks help finding stolen baby goats, rabbit
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Vancouver feed store is urging community members to help them find their missing animals after two baby goats and a baby rabbit were stolen over Memorial Day weekend.
In a Monday morning Facebook post, Orchards Feed said a man cut through three deadbolts and a front gate, before breaking into the goat pen and stealing the two baby goats one at a time. In an updated post, the store shared that a baby rabbit was also taken.
Now, the shop's owners are pleading with the community to help return the animals.
“This is heartbreaking. We need to find them before they are sold, or worse,” the store wrote on Facebook. “We bottle-fed these since day 2 and they are our family, and the community has adopted them as well. We started the animal farm to help kids to the elderly with a bit of love and happiness from our animals.”
With help from security footage, the store said they have the suspect’s car information, including the license plate, along with images of the suspect carrying a goat at the North Rosewood Avenue property.
While on the lookout for the animals, the feed store said they have contacted nearby businesses for their camera footage in hopes of finding the suspect.
“I'm putting everyone on blast now as I want people to know -- we see you -- our community sees you. We will prosecute to the highest level we can -- but we will also be staying on premises and will protect our property with force,” Orchards Feed wrote. “We are a family-owned store who is trying to improve our community.”
In an interview with KOIN 6 News, Orchards Feed General Manager Matthew Beckley said the baby goats have special dietary needs, emphasizing the need to bring them back to the store.
The suspect “knew what they were doing," according to Beckley. "They came in and out within 13 minutes, breaking all the different locks trying to get in and took (the goats) one by one out."
Beckley says the community reaction to the theft has been “anger.”
“People are really upset, and we’ve had a lot of people reach out to us and say that they’ll try to take care of them. We’ve let them know we’re letting police handle it,” Beckley said. “We do appreciate everybody who is supportive of us. We do have a lot of staff crying. We’ve raised these guys from day one, they’re bottle-fed babies because they were rejected form their mother, so we’ve really grown accustomed to them, our customers love them.”
KOIN 6 News has reached out to Clark County authorities. This story will be updated if we receive a response.
This is a developing story.