Goat stolen? Pet owner believes his beloved Pom was snatched off farm in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- A proud goat owner is raising the alarm about a possible thief stealing loving pets in Orange County.

Clarence Dillard said when he adopted Pom it was love at first sight.

"I've got her (pictures) in my wallet. I've got her all over my office door," he said. "It's almost like she's the daughter I never got to have. I can pick her up. I can dance with her. She'll give me hugs."

Dillard pays an annual fee to house Pom with other goats at Spring Haven Farm.

One day in April, when Dillard went to visit his beloved Pom, she was missing!

"I couldn't find her, and I just started freaking out," he said.

Initially everybody thought coyotes must've snuck in and nabbed Pom. But a little more digging made Dillard and others question that belief.

"The fact that we found her collar -- it was still intact, it was snapped shut -- I thought something's not right here. So I hired a tracker to see what we could find," Dillard said.

Tracker Balynda Brown, along with her dog Preacher, took the case. The pair represent Bravo K911, a lost pet finding service in the Triangle.

Dillard said he handed over Pom's collar, Preacher smelled it and immediately took off running through tall grass, hot on the trail.

"Then (Preacher) circled the driveway all the way to the highway, and I said that's weird. That goat couldn't have made the trip on its own. Someone had to have been leading that goat or carrying that goat," Brown said.

Brown believes Pom was stolen from Spring Haven Farm. That's why Dillard ended up filing a report with Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators admitted these type of cases are hard to track. Dillard said he's heard of other local goat owners having their pets turn up missing and then sometimes learning that the suspected thief tried to sell them to petting zoos.

At Spring Haven Farm, they're not taking any chances.

"It was a little difficult to accept," Spring Haven Farm's Cullen Crihfield said. "Of course, that just means we have to put up a lot more security measures and patrol the farm more at night."

As for Dillard, he vows he will not give up until Pom comes home.

"I've seen a lot of people who have their goats stolen and they want vengeance. I forgive them. I just want my goat back. I want her safe and healthy; just give me my goat back and it's all cool with me," Dillard said.