Ernesto Rodriguez, 36, of East Hartford, was charged with cruelty to animals and breach of peace, said Sgt. Salvatore Calvo.

“He took the goat and kind of threw it into the trunk,” Calvo told the Daily News. “Once people saw what he was doing they confronted him and got in a verbal argument with him and he stormed off.”

But the witnesses managed to shoot a video of Rodriguez mistreating the animal and alerted police later in the day.

Lisa Scirpo, the owner of the Middlesex Livestock Auction, does not understand why the witnesses did not act sooner.

Scirpo did not learn about the early afternoon incident until about 6 p.m. while she was out back auctioning off other animals.

“One of my employees came to me and said there was a police officer outside who would like to speak with me,” she said, still in disbelief.

Police say that they got Rodriguez’s license plate number from the witnesses. This allowed a trooper to find Rodriguez’s car with the goat still in the trunk outside his home, according to the Hartford Courant.

Rodriguez reportedly also had several chickens in the vehicle. All of the animals were handed over to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

George Krivda, public information officer for the department, said the goat is in good condition.

“It is presently located at our large animal rescue facility which we run in conjunction with the Department of Corrections,” he said.

Rodriguez is slated to appear in court Oct. 16.