The Vancouver Parks Board is suing the Langley man who agreed to adopt their petting zoo animals after all but one of the of them vanished within months.

Trevor French is being sued for $12,000 in Vancouver's small claims court over the loss of 16 goats and four sheep.

The goats and sheep were adopted by various owners around the Lower Mainland after the Stanley Park Petting Zoo closed down more than a year ago. The new owners agreed to take care of the animals as pets.

However, French is now accused of having sold most of his goats for a profit.

The Parks Board is asking $2,000 in damages for the loss of the goats, and $10,000 in punitive damages.

In their notice of claim, the Parks Board claims that French allowed four sheep to be killed by predators, and sold the goats at auction over four visits to Fraser Valley Auctions.

They claim the first sale was on Feb. 19, followed by two sales in March and a final sale, of eight goats, on April 2, all last year.

The sales began just months after French signed an adoption agreement saying he would care for the goats, and that none would be sold without consulting the Parks Board.

"Some or all of the goats sold at auction were purchased by buyers who operate enterprises that slaughter animals for food, and therefore it is likely that they were slaughtered shortly after purchase," reads the Parks Board's claim.

The Parks Board called French's conduct "calculated, harsh, reprehensible and malicious" and accused him of deliberately breaching the adoption agreement to make a profit.

None of the statements in the claim have been proven in court.

Since the incident was discovered this winter, French has said that he gave the goats away to people he contacted through a message posted at the Otter Coop, near his home.

However, he did not have names or any way to contact the people whom he said took the goats. He said he did not know any of them. No one has yet come forward publicly to say that they received a goat from French.

French said he couldn't keep the animals as he was going through a divorce.

One goat, Tryka, was still at French's hobby farm when Parks Board officials discovered the animals missing.

While French said she was pregnant, when she was taken and examined by a vet, she was determined to not be pregnant. After time spent back at the closed Stanley Park petting zoo, she now has a new owner.

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com