Cougar Recovery Fund

The aftermath of the Taylor Creek Fire that intiated an evacuation of our livestock to the Josephine County Fairgrounds, has been a challenge for our family. Just after we got settled back in, we endured a cougar attack that killed several of our prize Nigerian Dwarf Boar and Nubian goats. We suffered a second attack before we could get a handle on the first attack. Having to transport our animals to the vet, treating the less injured, and burying the dead, evolved into chaos when the second attack occurred. We have acquired help from several hunters so that we can try and get a handle on the situation and have the time to reinforce our pins accordingly. The first attack occurred between 5:00 to 9:00 PM on (our youngest son's birthday) September 12th. During this attack we lost (were killed) 8 goats, 4 were injured, 1 severely injured, and one of our dogs fighting the cat, was injured as well. Two of them required emergency veterinarian services. The next day, we retrieved our animals from the vet and acquired consultations from hunters without success. During our 4th hunter consultation, we were scouting the area on one side of the property when we noticed the dogs were out of the kennel, the goats were crying and dogs were barking. My neighbor and I went running towards the surviving goats pin, and found another one of prize goats laying on the ground. At first glance we thought, "maybe the dogs"... but then we realized the injuries were more consistent with a cougar attack (again). This happened around 2 PM while 4 of us (all adults) were on the other side of the property. This left us in greater concern for the safety of our two young boys. We have brought in guardian dogs as of today 9-19-18. To help with the safety of our remaining livestock. Our challenge now is to establish ourselves in preparation for the future. We have endured a financial hardship trying to address all that we need to do to overcome this situation. Our Vet bills are at around $2,000 already, the loss of my livestock exceeds $1,500 and this doesn't include the loss of some of our breeders and milk producers. We are asking help to recoup some of our vet bills so that we can reinforce our livestock cages and build securing structures in preparation for potential future attacks. We thank you in advance for any help you can provide my family.