California sheriff’s deputies forced to pay $300,000 to girl’s family after taking her pet goat and send it to the slaughterhouse.

Jessica Long purchased the goat, named Cedar, in 2022 for her daughter enrolled in a youth development program in California.

That same year, the family entered the animal in the Shasta County Junior District Fair, where animals can be auctioned off for their meat. But before the auction began, the family changed its mind and tried to tell fair officials that the girl no longer wanted to auction Cedar.

However, the Shasta Fair Association told the family that fair rules prohibit the animal from withdrawing from the program.

California State Sen. Brian Dahle, who ran for governor against Gov. Gavin Newsom, placed the highest bid for the animal, at $902. The fair got $63 off the sale and was supposed to pay $838 to the girl’s family.

But once the goat was sold at auction, the girl couldn’t leave him and sobbed next to him in his enclosure, according to court documents. Long took the goat from the fair and told officials she would be willing to pay for any losses resulting from its removal. She then took Cedar to a farm 200 miles away in Sonoma County, where she thought he would be safe.

A director of the fair association informed Long that if she did not return the goat, she would be charged with grand theft. However, Long and his family were still the rightful owners of the animal.

The mother begged the manager to keep the money from the sale and leave the goat with the girl, but the offer was rejected. Long even contacted Dahle, whose representatives told him they would not resist his attempts to save the goat from the slaughterhouse and he signed away his rights to the animal.

The mother wrote a letter to fair officials telling them she couldn’t bear to let her daughter suffer another loss after the deaths of three grandparents in one year. The authorities ignored his calls.

In July, a judge granted a search and seizure warrant for the animal at Bleating Hearts Farm and Sanctuary in Napa County by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies then drove 10 hours to Napa Valley to seize the goat on site. When they arrived, they discovered the animal had never been in their care.

Deputies went to another farm, where they did not have a warrant to search and seize the animal, took the animal before driving another 10 hours to Shasta County.

The goat was eventually taken to the slaughterhouse. In October 2022, the family filed a lawsuit against sheriff’s deputies who seized the animal, claiming they violated the law. Two years later, the family finally won their case.

In a written statement, Advancing Law for Animals, a nonprofit that represented the family in litigation, said the goat’s story “reflects the broader problem of government overreach in animal management.” “personal companionship”.

“Unfortunately, this litigation cannot bring Cedar home. But the $300,000 settlement with Shasta County and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office is the first step moving forward.