Two Farm Animals Shot To Death In Separate Incidents

Officials are investigating two separate incidents of farm animals that were shot to death last week.

In Scarborough, police are searching for the person responsible for shooting a pregnant goat at a family dairy farm. Investigators say someone trespassed onto the property and shot the 5-year-old goat named Ava while the animal was sitting in a fenced-in area over the weekend. Smiling Hill Farm says Ava was found dead during the Sunday morning feeding. According to a post on the farm's Facebook page, the owners are offering a $1,000 reward for the identification and arrest of the shooter.

In Madison, police are investigating the shooting death of a cow at a local family-owned farm. Owner Clayton Tibbetts told centralmaine.com that the cow was shot between the eyes and that she suffered before she died. He had previously allowed snowmobile riders access to his land on a trail maintained by the Abnaki Sno Riders club. Since this incident, however, he says he's denying access to riders. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Somerset County Sheriff's Office or the Maine Warden Service.

There's no indication, at this point, that these two incidents are related.