Three Men Charged With Goat Animal Cruelty: Taunton Police

TAUNTON, MA — Three Taunton men were charged with animal cruelty after they recorded video of themselves blowing what’s believed to be marijuana smoke into a goat’s face, and then posting it online, police announced today in a press release.

Lorenzo Kelley, 20; Nuno Camara, Jr., 18; and Jared Jorge, 21 — all of Taunton — each face one count of animal cruelty, police said in a statement.

Around 11 a.m., Tuesdays someone told officers about a video that had been making the rounds on social media. The video reportedly showed the three men taking the goat (named Lilac) out of its outdoor pen and putting a chain around the animal’s neck before taking it inside the home, police said. An image of the incident shows one of them sitting on its back, police said.

Two of the men can be seen blowing what appeared to be marijuana smoke in the animal’s face, while the third man films. The video was dated Tuesday, July 10, police said.

"Throughout the video the men can be seen cheering and laughing at the alleged abuse of the animal," police said in the statement.

After police saw the video Tuesday they Taunton Police they started an investigation to identify the men in the video and locate the goat, which ended up belonging to a relative of one of the accused men.

"Taunton Police and a Taunton Animal Control Officer went to the Thrasher Street home and positively identified the goat as the animal in the video."

Police said the goat is expected to be OK and was taken under the care and custody of Animal Control, where it will remain until the investigation has concluded.

The men will be arraigned at Taunton District Court at a date that has not yet been determined.

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File Photo (not the goat in question) by Jenna Fisher/Patch