Elderly farmer devastated after arson attack kills his two pet goats
A farmer has spoken of the upset of watching as a blaze started by arsonists claimed the lives of his pet goats.
Frederick Rylance, 75, was woken on Thursday, just after midnight to be told his stables in Mundles Lane, near his East Boldon home, were ablaze.
Within minutes, the fire had torn through the buildings, leaving it impossible to rescue his British Alpine goats Lottie – named because she was born on the same day as Princess Charlotte – and her daughter Gypsie.
Apache, a six-month-old screwball foal who arrived two days earlier, also died in the incident, leaving his owner distraught.
An investigation is under way by Northumbria Police, which believes the arson could be a case of mistaken identity.
On the night of Saturday, September 5, the stables were targeted with offensive graffiti and the fire follows social media posts protesting against a South Tyneside resident due to stand trial on a charge of rape.
Police say Mr Rylance has no connection to the case and is an innocent victim of
the arson.
The goats were popular with East Boldon Primary pupils and sparked a search when they were stolen in 2017 and recovered from Sunderland’s Red House estate days later.
Today, the land owned by his family for 150 years has been cleared, with Mr Rylance, a retired milkman, left to grieve his pets.
"I’ve kept goats all my life, but that’s it, I can’t do it any more," said Mr Rylance, who is married to Patricia, is a dad to two daughters and has five grandchildren.
"I got a knock on the door by a man who had been shooting rats and he said ‘Your stable’s on fire’ and by the time I got here, in my pyjamas, slippers and gown, I could hear the animals, but I couldn’t get to them.
"The firefighters were fantastic, and the police, I can’t thank them enough.
"Somebody must know something, it’s such a cruel thing to have done, and of course the worst thing of all was the next day, I had to get a wheelbarrow to get them out, there was almost nothing left, but I found their metal tags.
"I’m chairman of the local history society, I judge the scarecrow competition, I’ve done a lot of charity work, I just can’t believe anyone would do this.”