East Texas animal control officer arrested on animal cruelty charges | Texas

DALLAS, TX — A Wills Point animal control officer was arrested and charged with animal cruelty following an investigation by the SPCA of Texas.

Michael Bradford Goggans, a City of Wills Point animal control officer, was taken into custody on Wednesday, June 20, 2024, and charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals – torture, a third-degree felony. He was booked into the Van Zandt County Jail on $50,000 bail.

The arrest stems from incidents on June 12 and 13, 2024, when the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office responded to reports that Goggans' dog, Rip, was running loose and jumping on neighbors. Despite a warning from a sheriff's deputy to confine the dog, Goggans informed the deputy of his intention to kill Rip. He then contacted the deputy to report that he had killed the dog and left it in his yard.

The Texas SPCA's Animal Cruelty Investigation (ACI) Unit was called to Goggans' property, where he admitted to shooting Rip with a shotgun using bird shot ammunition . The deceased dog was taken to the SPCA facility in Dallas for a forensic evaluation. An autopsy revealed that Rip was shot from a distance, causing several tiny bullets to penetrate his torso and resulting in a slow, painful death.

“Texas law does not prohibit an individual from euthanizing their own animal; however, it must be done in a humane manner that avoids pain and suffering,” said Courtney Burns, chief investigator for the SPCA of Texas Animal Cruelty Investigation Unit. “Unfortunately, in this case, the evidence shows that the dog suffered greatly at the hands of its owner and for no justifiable reason.”