9-year-old California girl wins $300K lawsuit for seizure and slaughter of pet goat

Shasta County, California and its sheriff’s office will pay $300,000 to 9-year-old Jessica Long and her family as part of a civil damages award for the loss of her beloved pet goat, Cedar.

Sheriff’s deputies seized the goat in 2022 while he was at a Northern California farm. Cedar was later slaughtered, according to court documents. Then the family sued county officials, reports the Washington Post.

The deal, approved by a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California judge last Friday, was just “the first step of the Long family moving forward,” said Vanessa Shakib, the family’s lawyer.

However, it isn’t possible to “get justice…because Cedar can never come home,” Shakib told the Washington Post. “But what’s important is that we make sure that this never happens again to another family and that government officials understand that animals are not property. They are family members.” Shakib is also co-founder of the non-profit organization, Advancing Law for Animals.

“The sheriff’s deputies did nothing other than enforce the law,” said Christopher Pisano, an attorney representing the County and its sheriff’s office. He said his clients agreed to a settlement because they didn’t want to go to trial.

The goat saga began in April 2022, when Jessica’s mother, identified as E.L. in court documents, bought the white-and-brown Boer goat for her daughter. Jessica fed and walked him for nearly three months “as a family pet,” according to the Longs’ 2022 lawsuit.

In June 2022, mother and daughter exhibited Cedar for potential buyers at the Shasta District Fair’s junior livestock auction. On the final day, Jessica decided she couldn’t bear to lose Cedar. But auction representatives said withdrawing was prohibited.

At that point, Cedar was about 7 months old and had fetched a price of $902. Jessica reneged, fearing the goat would be slaughtered for meat. She cried and refused to leave the animal with county fair officials.

The girl “exercised her rights” as a minor to reject any contracts for Cedar’s sale, says her lawyer. Her family tried to withdraw the goat from auction before bidding began and promised recompense to the goat’s buyer and fair in writing for any losses due to Cedar’s removal, The Sacramento Bee newspaper reported.

Mother, daughter and goat went home, but worried what their Shasta County neighbours would think, the mother took Cedar to a farm in Sonoma County, California, more than 200 miles away, where she thought the goat would be safe.

However, a livestock manager from the fair called and demanded Cedar be returned, according to the lawsuit. The next day, Long wrote a letter to the fair stating that three of her daughter’s grandparents had died within the last year and she “couldn’t bear the thought” of Jessica losing Cedar too.

Melanie Silva, chief executive of the fair, told Long in her response that “making an exception for you will only teach (our) youth that they do not have to abide by the rules that are set up for all participants,” according to an email provided to the Post by Long’s attorneys.

The livestock auctions are designed to teach future farmers and ranchers responsibility, and how to raise animals for food, county fair officials said.  Another fair official threatened the family with a grand theft charge, in calls and texts, states the Long’s lawsuit.

In July, reports the Post, a magistrate approved a sheriff department warrant to search a Napa County farm, which had posted a plea on Instagram to spare Cedar’s life.

It is not clear who contacted and instructed the sheriff’s office to get involved, reports the LA Times. County officials deny any wrongdoing.

Two sheriff’s deputies drove north to a farm in Petaluma, California and found Cedar. The lawsuit accused the deputies of not having a warrant to search that particular property, but Pisano told the Post they didn’t need one because an employee at the farm handed over Cedar.

The mother texted the owner of the Petaluma farm later that month and learned Cedar had been confiscated. The goat was slaughtered near the end of July 2022.

Long filed a lawsuit against sheriff’s office employees, alleging they violated her and her daughter’s right to due process and their right against unreasonable search and seizure. In March 2023, Long added more defendants, including Shasta County and the Shasta District Fair and Event Center, which Long said retrieved Cedar after sheriff’s deputies seized him.

Long’s case against the Shasta District Fair and Event Center is ongoing. Shakib said she and Long’s family still have questions about Cedar’s final days, such as who asked law enforcement to seize the goat, who killed him and where his remains are.

“We continue to litigate against the California fair entity and related employees, and a 4-H volunteer,” said Shakib to the Sacramento Bee.

Jessica will receive $65,000 in the present settlement, court papers show.

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