Texas cheerleader Aubrey Vanlandingham charged with animal cruelty for poisoning her classmate’s pet goat
A teenage cheerleader in Texas is facing felony charges after allegedly using pesticide to poison and kill a rival’s competitive show goat at their high school in an ugly show of “jealousy,” according to an arrest affidavit and the goat’s owner.
Aubrey Vanlandingham, a 17-year-old senior who participated in competitive livestock shows with her own goat, reportedly confessed to deliberately poisoning the goat, named Willy, on Oct. 23, according to the affidavit obtained by CBS Austin.
Security footage obtained by police showed a female student at the Vista Ridge High School’s barn facility using a drench gun to force-feed Willy a toxic pesticide. The 6-month-old goat didn’t go easy and tried to escape, but was ultimately trapped and forced to drink the pesticide, according to the footage.
The student, identified by investigators as Vanlandingham, left but returned to check on Willy twice within two hours before calling her peer’s mother to let her know their goat wasn’t well.
Willy died less than a day later in his owner’s arms after he was wracked by convulsions and respiratory distress.
Vanlandingham allegedly told police that she had killed the goat because she believed the goat’s owner’s 15-year-old daughter was “a cheater,” according to the affidavit. Not only that, but she had reportedly tried to kill Willy one other time before and was unsuccessful.
“She admitted to poisoning him multiple times over several days. So it’s a pretty rough situation. We don’t believe there is any remorse there, we hope that she has to serve jail time and she gets some kind of mental help,” the mother of the 15-year-old told the DailyMail this week.
“It’s all bizarre. We want justice served, we don’t want a slap on the wrist. We want to make sure that she is punished. At this point, we don’t feel like she thinks she’s going to be punished and she needs to be. She needs to take ownership for what she’s done.”
A necropsy of the goat performed by a caprine pathologist confirmed the cause of death as organophosphate intoxication from phosmet, a pesticide often used for external parasite control in livestock, according to the arrest report.
The police investigation found that the search history on Vanlandingham’s phone included questions about lethal doses of bleach for animals and methods of poisoning pets. She then allegedly searched, “How to clear search history” in a failed attempt to cover her tracks.
The cheerleader had recently been named the president of the school’s Future Farmers of America and was an avid participant in goat shows with her own pet, Lacey, as reported by the DailyMail.
Despite her crowning as president of her school’s chapter of the national livestock competition organization, Vanlandingham was still jealous of her younger competitor, according to the girl’s mom.
“She’s saying it’s because of cheating. But from what we’ve deciphered, she was just really jealous,” the 15-year-old’s mother told the Daily Mail.
“You can’t even cheat when it comes to showing goats,” she added. “It makes no sense, so that’s where the jealousy really kind of falls into place.”
Vanlandingham was arrested on Nov. 22 and charged with cruelty to livestock animals, a jail felony in Texas. She was released the same day on a $5,000 bond.
If convicted, she could face up to two years in prison. She has been banned from attending her high school while the case is ongoing. She is set to appear in court on Jan. 15.
