Police ask public for help after livestock massacre on family farm

The Woodruff County Sheriff’s Department in Augusta, Arkansas is asking for help after the animals on a family farm were murdered last week.

William Wiggins and his daughter Emily were devastated when they approached their livestock pen on the morning of December 29, 2017. Their miniature horses, donkeys, goats, an alpaca, and a calf were all dead, victims of senseless violence. Six of their nanny goats were pregnant, two of the slaughtered babies were just 3-months-old.

Only a single injured goat survived the massacre.

“When you show up at the pen to check on them in the the morning time and every one of them that you got is laying in the pen dead, from some type of wound — we all cried,” Wiggins said to Arkansas Matters.

Wiggins and his daughter had raised most of these animals from birth, feeding each by hand or from a bottle. “Everybody knows how much they love their dogs and cats,” Wiggins said. “Well can you imagine losing a whole herd of them at one time?”

Emily, 15, was the primary caretaker of nearly a dozen animals. “She works hard to make sure all her animals are fed and well taken care of and still keeps up her grades in school as well as participating in extra curricular activities,” the family explained on GoFundMe. “The Sherriff’s office has an account set up at Merchants and Planters bank to go towards the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who committed this awful act.”

“Whoever done this cowardly act to anything so innocent that’s kept in captivity… I can say that they will be punished to the extent of the law to the fullest,” Sherrif Reynolds of the Woodruff County Sherrif’s Department said to Fox News.

The Sheriff’s Department shared the following message on Facebook,

As word grew, more and more families donated to the reward fund. “The reward amount for the Ferrell Wiggins case is now up to $2,750.00,” the Sheriff’s Department wrote on Facebook this week. “If you have any information leading to the arrest and conviction please give us a call at 870-347-2583. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.”

A fundraiser has been created to help the Wiggins family in their time of need. Please click here if you would like to make a donation to help Emily rebuild her herd.

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