Local News

Cheerleader in Texas Charged with Poisoning Rival’s Goat, Banned from Caring for Pets

Cheerleader in Texas Charged with Poisoning Rival’s Goat, Banned from Caring for Pets

Miami Standard News (Texas 2025) – The most recent court order in a Texas teen’s felony case prohibits her from interacting with her own cat, dog, or bunny without adult supervision after she is accused of using force-fed poison to kill a competitor’s show goat.

According to a probable cause affidavit that Fox News Digital was able to obtain, Aubrey Vanlandingham, 17, acknowledged poisoning 6-month-old Willy the goat on October 23. According to the documents, she informed police that the goat’s owner was a “cheater,” and she doesn’t “like cheaters,”

After posting $5,000 bail, Vanlandingham is awaiting trial at home on a felony allegation of cruelty to a livestock animal.

She can only visit her own dogs with her parents or other adults present, and she is not allowed to communicate with or contact the victim’s family or take care of any other animals, according to a recent court ruling. The paper also states that she has been ordered to submit to a drug test.

According to court records, Vanlandingham was seen in the school’s barn on Nov. 23 using a dredging gun to force the goat to drink the pesticide while “holding the goat’s head as she forces a syringe-like item into the goat’s throat” while it “fight[s] to break free,” in surveillance footage that Vista Ridge High School turned over to Cedar Park Police.

The court documents reveal that she cald the goat owner’s mother to inform her that the goat was “acting funny” and transmitted a video of the goat convulsing to the other girl after being observed checking on the animal twice in the next two hours.

The search terms “How much bleach can kill an animal” and “Poisoning pets, what you should know” were included in a subsequent court-ordered examination of Vanlandingham’s phone.

After being sent to a veterinarian’s office for “sneezing, diarrhea, coughing, and shaking,” Willy passed away in his owner’s arms approximately twenty-one hours later. Pesticide odors “permeated the room,” the document states, during a necropsy five days later.

Organophosphate toxicity from phosmet, a pesticide frequently used for external parasite control in livestock, was identified by a pathologist as the cause of death.

Vanlandingham was a member of the Vista Ridge Future Farmers of America, as was Willy’s owner.

According to the Daily Mail, Vanlandingham was a cheerleader at the Austin suburb school and had recently been elected president of the organization. Her own show goat, Lacey, which she displayed in animal shows throughout the state, was the subject of her numerous social media posts.

Vanlandingham, according to the prosecution, poisoned the younger student’s goat in order to win an upcoming competition.

“My minor client and her family are working hard to resolve any legal issues and non-legal issues raised by these allegations, and we are thankful for a judicial process that will let us tell our story,” Vanlandingham’s attorney stated.

“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,” the mother said, adding that they want her to be sent to jail and receive mental health treatment.

“You can’t even cheat when it comes to showing goats,” she stated. “It makes no sense, so that’s where the jealousy really kind of falls into place.”

According to court documents, the teen’s next hearing, which was originally set for this week, has been moved to March. According to Texas law, she might be fined $10,000 or imprisoned for up to two years for the charge. She hasn’t made a plea yet.

Reference

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *