Cedar the Goat, a beloved pet, ended up dead. Photo courtesy of the Sacramento Bee.
This one started my head spinning. At around 1800 RPM.
Let me preface this by mentioning I do work in support services for a state law-enforcement agency. I’m not commissioned, but civil service. I’ve been here for 18+ years. I have a boatload of respect for our troops and a lot of pride in the professionalism they show in their daily work.
I am 110% confident my employer would never have pulled a stunt like the Shasta County Sheriff’s office, apparently, has.
The Sacramento Bee has all the details in this article, but here’s a summary.
In April of 2022, the parents of a 10-year old girl named Jessica Long bought her a 4-month old baby goat. Jessica, a member of her local 4-H chapter’s youth program, named her new friend ‘Cedar’ and raised him as a family pet. They ended up bonding as tight as any kid would with, say, a puppy.
Later on, this same year, Jessica and her parents took Cedar to a local livestock fair which they thought was a simple exhibition. They didn’t realize, at first, the event was a livestock auction where the exhibited animals would be sold off for slaughter.
The winning bidder for Cedar was, ironically enough, a representative of Republican State Senator and California gubernatorial candidate Brian Dahle. My knee-jerk reaction, on learning this, was to assume the Senator would act as many of us have come to expect a Republican would; by viewing the goat as his lawfully-purchased property and to h*ll with the former owners.
Much to my surprise, Senator Dahle’s office acted with compassion and understanding, telling Jessica’s family they had no interest in slaughtering a family pet.
In any case, the parents made it abundantly clear to fair officials that they would fully repay the winning bid ($907) plus the 7% commission the fair claimed. This wasn’t good enough for the fair’s livestock director, one B.J. Macfarlane. He refused the repayment offer and threatened the family with grand theft charges if Cedar was not turned over.
The family, having temporarily moved Cedar to a farm in Sonoma County due to fear of retaliation from the locals, tried once again to (politely) negotiate. No go. Macfarlane involved the Shasta County Sheriff. What happened next? To quote from the article:
“Two sheriff’s deputies left their jurisdiction in Shasta County, drove over 500 miles at taxpayer expense, and crossed approximately six separate county lines, all to confiscate a young girl’s beloved pet goat, Cedar, after she decided not to auction him for slaughter,” the suit says. “Cedar was her property and she had every legal right to save his life.”
The suit mentioned is a lawsuit the family has filed, with assistance from the non-profit advocacy group Advancing Law for Animals, against the Shasta County Sheriff’s department. The suit alleges, among other things, violation of the family’s 4th and 14th Amendment rights.
I hope the family wins. It may not bring Cedar back, but it will certainly shine some light on what look to me like questionable practices of the Shasta County Sheriff and the local 4-H group.
