Family sued by HOA for putting up fence to protect goats from coyotes

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS/CNN) - An Orange County homeowner’s association sued a Laguna Hills family after they built a fence to prevent coyotes from killing their goats.

“The coyotes were just jumping over the fence and killing my goats, and it’s a horrible thing to go out there and see your goats ripped apart,” said Steve Blume.

Blume said he faced an emergency that needed immediate action after the loss of seven of his beloved pets, blue maize goats.

He raised his original 6-foot fence with mesh to 8 feet in an attempt to keep the coyotes out of the yard.

When that didn’t work, he added blinking lights to no avail, but gave it one more try.

“So, I put a 45-degree angle at the top of the fence, which made it about 9 feet high. And that completely kept the coyotes out of the yard,” said Blume.

The modification also attracted the attention of his HOA, which has filed a lawsuit.

Blume acknowledges he hadn’t received approval to extend the fence. He said there are other laws on the books requiring him to keep his pets safe.

The Blumes said they can’t understand why it’s legal to have a tennis court fence as high as 15 ft to prevent balls from rolling down the hill, but legally they can’t put an extension on their perimeter fence to protect their goats that they love and cherish like pets.

“That is comparing the life of a goat to a tennis ball. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Karen Blume.

The HOA said, “after nearly a year of trying to negotiate a resolution, defendants have refused to make any changes to the noncompliant fence and have declined to participate in mediation.”

The Blumes counter that the options given to them would cost thousands of dollars.

The HOA wants a judge to order that fence complies with the 6-foot limit.