NY POST – They got her goat – literally.
A California woman sold her daughter’s pet goat to her local county and district’s state fair — but now she’s suing them after they allegedly slaughtered and barbecued it.
Jessica Long purchased Cedar, the beloved pet goat, in April 2022 for her 9-year-old daughter, who cared for the farm animal every day, reported the Sacramento Bee.
After deciding to enter Cedar into the Shasta District Fair’s livestock auction, the daughter desperately wanted him back, leading Long to steal the goat.
In the process, it prompted a frenzy involving local officials and sent sheriffs on a 200-mile wild goose chase — make that goat chase — to find and retrieve the precious pet.
Long is now suing the Shasta sheriff’s officials, Shasta County, the Shasta District Fair and other defendants they believe are involved and is asking for actual, general and punitive damages, according to court documents obtained by the Sacramento Bee.
“What happened here is an abuse of power, and an incredible waste of taxpayer resources,” Vanessa Shakib, Long’s lawyer, told The Post in an emailed statement. “Government officials escalated a purely civil dispute into a sham criminal pursuit.”
The lawsuit was originally filed in August 2022 but amended in March of this year.
“Police officers improperly declared themselves judge and jury, and disposed of a little girl’s family pet in violation of her Due Process rights,” Shakib continued to The Post. “Officials in the State of California surely have more pressing matters to attend to than a publicly-funded 500-mile joyride to illegally seize a little girl’s goat.”
When contacted by The Post, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office responded simply: “Unfortunately, due to pending litigation we are unable to comment.”
