A man accused of animal cruelty against goats in Ellsworth Township has pled guilty to some charges against him in court Thursday. 

During a hearing in the Sebring Municipal Court, 67-year-old Robert Stare pled guilty to four counts of animals running at large. Stare is also charged with two counts of animal cruelty, but Stare is still on trial for those charges.

The charges stem from an incident in May of 2023 when deputies with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office showed up at Stare's home on West Akron-Canfield Road near South Bailey Road to investigate a report of multiple goats stuck in an electric fence.

Upon arrival, deputies say they found two small goats with their heads stuck in the fence with one struggling to the point of choking itself. A neighbor told deputies situations like that are a regular occurrence at the property.

At one point, deputies say Stare began throwing goats over the fence, which was four to five feet high and deputies later accused him of smacking one of the goats with a PVC pipe causing it to black out for a moment.

Prior to this incident, Stare had been charged with multiple counts of animals running at large stemming from an incident where Stare allowed some goats to run free, which resulted in damage to vegetation on a neighboring property.

According to 21 News crews in the courtroom, the judge will take all testimony into consideration and Stare is scheduled to be sentenced on November 9 at 10:00 a.m. on all counts.

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