YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – An Ellsworth Township man is due back in court next month after being charged with abusing the animals he raises.
Robert Stare, 66, appeared in Mahoning County Court Thursday morning. Stare plead not guilty to several charges.
He was cited twice in the last month after the goats he raises for sale at auction got out of their pen and damaged neighboring property.
Stare was also charged with animal cruelty when two of the goats became entangled in an electric fence on his property on Akron-Canfield Road on May 3. According to a report from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, the neck of one of the goats was stuck so badly in the fence that it was choking itself.
A witness reported that he has seen at least 30 goats stuck in the fence on the property in the past that had been left unattended for hours, and he reported finding one dead goat in the fence before, according to the report.
Deputies reported that while they were at the property, they witnessed Stare picking up and throwing goats over a 4- to 5-foot-high fence and smacking a goat in the head with a PVC pipe.
The report notes that the goats appeared to be starving for food and deputies believed that is why they were trying to get out of the fence, to graze for grass and on trees. The report states that investigators believed that Stare was unable to control and care for the goats and that they should be rehomed.
Judge Joe Schiavoni released Stare without bond but ordered him to return to court next month with proof that he’s taking better care of his animals.
Chelsea Simeon and Michael Reiner contributed to this report.
