A Cambewarra farmer woke to the cries of a baby goat, only to find three of his goats had been killed by a dog from the area at 4am on Friday.
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Wearing thongs, his jocks and a singlet, he ran outside and rescued the baby goat that was hanging from the dog’s mouth.
He chased the dog away before it could cause more carnage.
The baby goat has been fighting for its life today.
“It has a broken jaw, several puncture wounds, it’s 50/50,” hobby farmer Glenn Tyson said.
Mr Tyson was on the verge of tears as he recalled the horrors of the night.
“It’s gutting," he said.
“It goes with owning farms but it doesn’t make it any easier.
“The black one was killed here, it was pregnant so we might have lost two there.
“Fortunately these three were locked out, they escaped it.”
The dog ran into a nearby property, and hasn’t returned to the scene.
Mr Tyson is sad that the dog will be inevitably put down, but sees this as the only way forward for the farming community in Cambewarra.
“It’s a tricky situation because the dog doesn’t know any better, it will have to be put down to prevent it doing it again,” he said.
“There are people living around here with horses and cows, some which are quite valuable, and it would just be a shame if it happened to others as well.
“It comes back to the owners, they’re the ones responsible for it, they have to be held accountable.
“People need to know, late at night when they’re in bed this can happen, dogs can have the instinct to kill.”
His collection of pet goats has grown over the years, starting when he adopted an unwanted pet.
“We grew to love them, so we got a couple more, and other people couldn’t handle them and we took them on, it became an RSPCA sort of thing,” he said.
“There would have been in excess of 100 people who came up and had a look at them, friends brought their friends, a heap of little kids came up, everyone wants to come and play with the little goats.
“It’s been good for us, brought people up here to enjoy a side of life they normally wouldn’t have.”