A Portland farmer told Fox 12 that he was upset after a Washington County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed his escaped goat on Sunday, but a spokesperson from the sheriff's office said Wednesday that the goat was aggressively charging and the deputy had no choice but to shoot the animal.

"Goats are escape artists," Matt Minnick told Fox 12, "and I'm the farmer. I see this as partly my fault because I didn't keep a closer eye on my perimeter."

But, Minnick told the station, his goat, a $1,200 breeding male named Volt, wasn't dangerous. "There's seven year old kids that deal with these goats," he said in the segment, in a field among a herd of goats, chickens and a donkey.

Deputy Jeff Talbot, spokesperson for Washington County Sheriff's Office, said that on Sunday morning the goat was anything but gentle.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to Northwest Portland after receiving a call that a herd of goats was wandering around the neighborhood.

When deputies arrived, Talbot said Wednesday, they began to corral the animals.

But the male goat in question, Volt, was very aggressive. In their report, the deputies noted that the animal kept approaching one of them with his head down and his horns -- which they estimated to be 18 inches long -- pointed in his direction.

The deputy tried to get out of the way of the goat while the group waited for Minnick to arrive, but the goat continued to charge him.

According to their report, deputies also watched the goat ram a tree with his horns.

Finally, the goat put his head down and charged at the deputy's groin. The deputy grabbed for the goat's horn to move him out of the way but this made the goat even more aggressive.

The goat continued to charge him and he continued to retreat until he was no longer able to retreat and felt his only option was to shoot the goat.

Minnick told Fox 12 he will now have to find a new breeding male for his herd. He plans to make a claim to the county for damages in the death of his goat.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker