Domestic dog and wild mountain lion responsible for Monument livestock killings
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
MONUMENT – April has not been a great month to be a goat or an alpaca in northern Grant County. Recent livestock killings in the Monument area have raised concern among residents. According to Sheriff Todd McKinley, two separate animals are to blame—a mountain lion, and a domestic Great Pyrenees dog.
First, it was reported by livestock owner Bob Yukawa of Top Road that three alpacas had been killed. Sheriff McKinley informed our newsroom, “This occurred over the night of April 5th to the morning of the 6th in a corral some distance from the home, near Top Road. It was reported by Yukawa they were shot, but no evidence of this was found, and the holes were determined to be made by canine teeth. Dog tracks were observed in the pen, but no dog was in there…That night, the 6th– morning of the 7th, multiple goats were killed in an adjacent pen.”
The Sheriff said all goats all had similar injuries to the alpacas previously killed. On April 14th, two more goats were reported dead near the Yukawa home, again with similar injuries.
Sheriff McKinley stated, “It was determined these two goats were killed by a canine, and there was a loose Pyrenees dog belonging to Yukawa in the pen with the goats. The dog had apparently jumped into the pen from another pen, making it most likely the culprit.”
On the following night of April 15th, witnesses observed a mountain lion killing goats at a ranch approximately six air miles southwest of the Top Road location.
The Sheriff said, “A comparison of the bite marks from the two locations indicated the Top Road livestock were bit under the neck/throat area, and the goats killed by the lion were bit behind the head on the back of the neck. Distinctly different markings.”
He said a Wildlife Services Agent is attempting to apprehend the cougar.
