RICHMOND, Maine — Police said Tuesday that two pet cows killed in a Richmond pasture in late November were shot with arrows.
Richmond police Chief Scott MacMaster said officers have interviewed several “persons of interest” in their effort to determine who is responsible for killing the two 13-year-old pet Holstein cattle in late November. No arrests have been made.
MacMaster said the cows were killed with either a crossbow or some type of a compound bow used in hunting. Both cows were shot in the chest area.
One of the people interviewed by police drives a green 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck with an extended cab, MacMaster said. He asked anyone who may have seen the truck on or around Alexander Reed, Langdon or Savage roads on Nov. 18 or 19 to contact Richmond Police Officer James Donnell.
Daria Goggins owned the cows, Theodore and Isadora, as pets for about 10 years, she said. She recently moved to the property, where she had a modular home installed this past summer. The Holsteins were relocated from Pownal to Richmond in early June.
Goggins, whose home is about 600 feet from the pasture, found the cows’ bodies around 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 20.
Goggins told the Bangor Daily News that she thinks she knows who shot her cows, and MacMaster said following the incident that Goggins suspected the shooting was retaliatory “because of some issues between contractors and neighbors with having her house built on the property.”
On Tuesday, MacMaster said the operator of the truck is from southern Maine and may have done work on Goggins’ house.
MacMaster declined to identify the vehicle’s owner or release the truck’s registration information, and added, “It’s just a truck of interest at this point.”
“I am concerned for this person’s well-being because of the horrific and heartless crime that was committed and how it has touched the nerves of every animal lover who reads or hears of it,” he said.
If and when charges are filed, they will include cruelty to animals and/or criminal mischief — the latter a charge that could be elevated to a felony depending on whether the damage exceeds $2,000.
“It’s hard to put a numerical value on a pet,” MacMaster said following the shooting. “If they were being raised as beef critters, you’d only look at the dollar amount. I think if you look at what they would sell for for meat and what she has invested in them, it’s well over $2,000.”
Anyone with information about the truck or who may have seen someone emerging from the woods in that area with a hunting bow can contact Donnell at 737-8518 or by email at jdonnell@richmondmaine.com