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

It is a saga that involves a goat that is kidnapped and then slaughtered.

Jessica Long hired attorneys who alleged a violation of her family’s right to be free from unfair searches and seizures.

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

After months of care, Long’s daughter became attached and distraught even before the goat went up for auction.

The Shasta District Fair leadership refused to allow him to withdraw, auctioning off the goat and allowing it to be purchased 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 needed to be euthanized, threatening to charge the family with grand larceny after they took the goat from the fairgrounds.

After the Longs failed to return the goat, the fair leadership involved the sheriff’s office, who eventually went to Sonoma County where the goat was located, confiscated it, and then arranged for it to be slaughtered.

The court found that the fair’s own bylaws stated that the Longs still owned the property and should have been able to resolve the lawsuit civilly, violating their due process rights and failing to obtain a court order for registration in Sonoma County.

However, the county and the sheriff’s office are now settling rather than continuing litigation to trial, agreeing to pay the Longs and their attorneys $300,000.

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

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