Sacramento, November 5: An 11-year-old girl in California has been awarded $300,000 in a settlement with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office after the agency seized and subsequently slaughtered her pet goat, Cedar. According to court documents,  the incident occurred in 2022 when the girl was raising Cedar as part of a junior livestock project for the Shasta District Fair, where the goat had been registered for auction.

B.J. Macfarlane, CEO of the Shasta District Fair, warned Jessica Long of possible grand theft charges if her daughter’s pet goat, Cedar, was not returned. Following this, two deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office arrived at the farm without a search warrant and took Cedar. Despite the family's appeals, Cedar was sold for USD 902, with USD 63 owed to the fair, and subsequently slaughtered. The incident devastated the young girl, who was left heartbroken, retreating to cry under her bed, according to her mother. California Shocker: 46-Year-Old Female Teacher Sends Her Explicit Pictures to School Student, Has Sex With Him Under Guise of Tutoring; Arrested.

Shakib highlighted that throughout the prolonged two-year legal battle, officials from both the Shasta District Fair and Shasta County repeatedly employed strategies aimed at hindering the discovery process, deliberately prolonging proceedings to evade critical questions at the heart of the case. California Bird Flu: 2 Farmworkers Infected With H5N1 Avian Influenza, Latest Human Cases in US.

As part of the settlement, Shasta County did not admit to any wrongdoing, though it agreed to pay the settlement amount. The funds will be placed in a trust for Ms. Long’s daughter, now 11, to access once she reaches adulthood.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2024 02:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).