Orange County HOA sues family for building a fence to protect their goats from coyotes

An Orange County homeowners 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," Steve Blume said. "It's a horrible thing to go out there and see your goats ripped apart."

Steve and Karen Blume live on a one-acre property in Nellie Gail Ranch. Steve Blume said that he faced an emergency that needed immediate action after the coyotes killed seven of his beloved pets. 

He raised the original six-foot fence with mesh to eight feet in an attempt to keep coyotes out of the yard. When that didn't work, he added blinking lights. After those couldn't keep the coyotes out, he resorted to extending the fence one more foot. 

"I put a 45-degree angle at the top of the fence, which made it about nine feet high, and that completely kept the coyotes out of the yard," Steve Blume said. 

The modification also attracted the attention of his HOA, which filed a lawsuit. Blume acknowledged that he hadn't received approval to extend the fence. He added that other laws require him to keep his pets safe. 

He pointed to an even taller fence on his property just a few feet away. The Blumes said they can't understand why it's legal to have a tennis court fence that's as high as 15 feet to prevent balls from rolling down the hill, but not a fence to protect the goats that they love and cherish like pets. 

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

The HOAT said they have been trying to negotiate a resolution with the Blumes, but they "refused to make any changes to the non-compliant fence and have declined to participate in mediation."

The Blumes said the options given to them would cost thousands of dollars. The HOA wants a judge to order the Blumes to comply with the six-foot fence limit.