Man grabs gun and starts shooting after dogs kill 14 goats on farm, NC cops say

A herd of young goats was slaughtered overnight at a North Carolina farm, and investigators suspect stray dogs did the killing.

“There were 14 goats found deceased and three injured,” the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release.

“The owner of the goats shot and killed one of the dogs involved, and all leads have been exhausted in attempting to locate the other dog. The deceased dog was transported to the shelter and had no identification.”

Jeremy Capps discovered the dead goats – each just nine months old – around 7 a.m. Tuesday at his family’s Wade Holler Farm near Edneyville, WLOS reports.

“I didn’t have a weapon, so I turned around and went back to the house,” Capps told the station. “The one (dog) that was still in here ... didn’t act like it was worried about me. It was still aggressive, so I shot it.”

The farm is on Ward Holler Road, a dead-end dirt road surrounded largely by forested land, maps show.

Edneyville is about a 110-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.

This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM.