It’s been a two-year battle, but the federal rights lawsuit over the baby goat Cedar is over. His young guardian, who sued Shasta County deputies after they took Cedar without a warrant and handed him over to be slaughtered, has been awarded $300,000 in a settlement agreement, Reuters reported.
“We can’t get justice here because Cedar can never come home,” Vanessa Shakib, the family’s lawyer and co-founder of Advancing Law for Animals, 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.”
Cedar’s guardian, whose initials are E.L., initially signed up with the 4-H club to raise the young goat to be auctioned off for meat. But after caring for him for several months and giving him a name, the nine-year-old formed a strong bond with Cedar and wanted to keep him. When it came time to take him to the Shasta District Fair to be auctioned off, E.L. and her mother, Jessica Long, tried to back out before the bidding started, but Shasta District Fair officials claimed rules prohibited this. Long even offered to pay the $63.14 the Fair Association would’ve been entitled to from the earnings, and they still refused.
“After the auction, Plaintiff E.L. would not leave Cedar’s side,” the plaintiff’s complaint read. “E.L. loved Cedar and the thought of him going to slaughter was something she could not bear. While sobbing in his pen beside him, Plaintiff E.L. communicated to her mother she didn’t want Cedar to go to slaughter.”
The highest bidder, Senator Brian Dahle, told Long the family could keep Cedar after being told that the child wanted to save his life. Shasta Fair Association’s livestock manager BJ Macfarlane threatened Cedar’s family with criminal charges if they didn’t give up the goat, the lawsuit stated. E.L. and her mother brought Cedar to a farm 200 miles away to keep him safe, but that still didn’t deter the Fair officials — who asked the police to capture Cedar and bring him back.
Cedar was a beautiful brown and white goat who had made a friend in E.H., and she loved him as a family member. Cedar did not deserve to die.
Thank you to everyone who signed our petition telling Shasta County and the sheriff’s department that the cruel slaughter of Cedar was unconscionable. We hope this case will prompt more mercy and kindness toward all animals.
