BERKS COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 The owner of the Pennsylvania Farm Show\u2019s popular goat snuggling station is facing felony animal cruelty charges after he performed an at-home C-section on a goat who ultimately died. Investigators said the procedure was livestreamed to YouTube.<\/p>\n
Justin Steinmetz, of Temple, Pennsylvania, is the owner of Steinmetz Family Farm Baby Goat Snuggling, according to charging documents filed Feb. 19 by the Berks County Rescue League.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 27, 2025, the Department of Animal Protection received a report that Steinmetz performed an at-home C-section on one of his goats, named Brawny, without anesthesia, pain medicine or medical professionals present.<\/p>\n
The report said he cut the goat open with scissors, removed the baby and took the mother goat to a Quakertown vet clinic to try and save the goat, who arrived with her intestines and organs hanging out. The mother goat died on the table.<\/p>\n
The Department of Animal Protection received a similar report the following day that noted the entire operation was livestreamed on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Investigators spoke with the vet who treated Brawny, who told police she believes the goat was \u201copened incorrectly causing acute blood loss resulting in death.”<\/p>\n
The vet said Steinmetz told her that he made a \u201crash decision to prioritize the baby\u2019s life over the moms,\u201d and said he felt it was a life-or-death situation, according to charging documents. The vet added that Steinmetz declined to have the child examined.<\/p>\n
Investigators found a YouTube video posted by Steinmetz on Oct. 25, 2025, titled, \u201cI performed a C-Section on My Goat \u2013 Was it legal in Pennsylvania,\u201d which showed Steinmetz discuss the choice he made to perform the C-section.<\/p>\n
Investigators also received a screen recording of a video of the C-section, which was reportedly posted on a members-only YouTube account that only paying subscribers could see.<\/p>\n
According to charging documents, the video showed two people holding down the goat while Steinmetz could be heard saying, \u201cwithout anything, I get it, this sucks.\u201d Fifteen seconds into the video, Steinmetz could reportedly be heard saying, \u201cI don\u2019t think these are sharp enough,\u201d as he holds up a small silver object and the goat can be heard bleating in distress.<\/p>\n
The video continued to show the C-section performed with scissors and a pocketknife, without anesthesia or numbing agents, according to charging documents.<\/p>\n
Investigators said after Steinmetz removed the baby, it took him another five minutes before he started to wrap up the mother goat. Once the goat was wrapped, he spent another three and a half minute milking the mother goat for colostrum, investigators wrote.<\/p>\n
In total, from the time she was cut into until she left for the vet, the mother goat was laying open on the barn floor for almost 18 minutes. It then took 54 minutes to drive the goat from Steinmetz Family Farm to the vet, the animal control officer said.<\/p>\n
The investigator who filed the charges said she \u201ctruly believes\u201d Steinmetz \u201cintentionally, knowingly, and recklessly\u201d inflicted \u201csevere and prolonged pain\u201d from wounding the goat. He is also accused of failing to provide vet care for the baby goat, named Brice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteinmetz is not a veterinarian and does not have proper training to conduct this surgery,\u201d investigators wrote in charging documents.<\/p>\n