Family receives settlement after claims sheriff's office seized and slaughtered their goat

SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. (KRCR) – A Northern California county and its sheriff’s office have settled with a family for $300,000.

It is a story in which a goat is seized and then slaughtered.

Jessica Long hired lawyers who claimed her family’s right not to be subject to unwarranted searches and seizures had been violated.

In 2022, Long’s then 9-year-old daughter joined a youth 4-H program to introduce her to farming, receiving Cedar the goat as part of a termination contract with the Shasta District Fair.

After months of care, Long’s daughter became attached and upset before the goat even went to auction.

A family claims their right to a fair trial was violated when their goat was seized and… — A family claims their right to a fair trial was violated when their goat was seized and slaughtered.

The leadership of the Shasta District Fair refused to allow her to withdraw, placed the goat up for auction and allowed its purchase for just over $900.

Court documents show the mother managed to get the buyer to relinquish ownership, but the fair insisted the goat was theirs and had to be slaughtered, threatening to charge the family with grand theft after they lost the goat from the fairgrounds.

After the Longs failed to return the goat, the fair’s leadership called in the sheriff’s office, which eventually went to Sonoma County where the goat was located, seized it and then saw it slaughtered.

The court found that under the exchange’s own bylaws, it had been determined that the Longs still owned the property and should have been able to resolve the lawsuit civilly, violating their right to due process and failing to obtain an injunction obtain for the search in Sonoma County.

However, the county and the sheriff’s office have now settled instead of continuing with the lawsuit, agreeing to pay the Longs and their attorneys $300,000.

An attorney for the family said they will continue the lawsuit against the Shasta District Fair.