Grand Rapids man tortured goats, starved and burned them: Charges

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Grand Rapids, Minnesota, man faces more than a dozen charges of felony animal torture stemming from food deprivation and improperly disposing of carcasses after nearly 100 dead goats were found by authorities.

Grand Rapids goat torture

What we know:

Jacob James Langeslag, 43, is charged with 14 counts of felony animal torture, three counts of animal mistreatment/food deprivation and three counts of disposing of an animal carcass by burial or burning.

According to charges filed in Itasca County, on Feb. 24, 2025, authorities received an animal neglect complaint from a property on the 24000 block of Maple Drive West in Bovey, Minnesota – roughly 11 miles east of Grand Rapids.

The person reporting the neglect said the property belonged to her father, but that Langeslag had been allowed to stay there and move his goats onto the land.

However, he was no longer living there, and "at least 12 goats were now dead" in their pen.

When speaking with the property owner, authorities learned that Langeslag was supposed to stay in a camper on the property after he moved the goats there, but he didn’t think that he had "even spent one night in it," according to charges. With a broken leg, the property owner had not been able to check on the animals himself, he said.

The owner said that he was no longer able to get ahold of Langeslag, and he was not happy about the dead and mistreated animals.

He later told authorities that, "Langeslag has piled the dead goats up with his skid-loader," to a height of nearly five feet.

Goat death investigation

Dig deeper:

When authorities returned the following day, they could hear machinery and saw Langeslag putting dead goats into the bucket of a tractor.

The owner told them that they had removed roughly 20 dead goats from their pen, while two remained dead in the tractor's bucket. The owner said he didn’t want his grandkids to see them, according to charges.

When questioned, Langeslag said that he had been sick and not able to take care of them, but when told that the sheriff’s office had been contacted, he got in touch with the owner again after days of no contact.

However, law enforcement later learned of a Snapchat video showing Langesland at Zorbaz in Grand Rapids during the time in which he claimed to be too sick to care for the animals.

A search of the property ultimately revealed multiple piles of dead goats, and a total of 49 still alive.

It was reported that Langeslag had brought a total of 140 goats to the property, and that 91 had died since their arrival.

During the search, authorities found several buckets within the fenced area of surviving goats, but all were empty except for one that was half full of dirty water.

Previous mistreatment case

Big picture view:

Records show that Langeslag has a pending case in Rice County in which he is also charged with animal mistreatment, neglect and deprivation of food, stemming from a horse he had owned.

What's next:

In the latest charges, authorities say the state has learned that Langeslag might still be obtaining more goats, and there are concerns regarding how he might care for them.