While the internet is abuzz with the horrendous government confiscation and murder of a pet squirrel in New York, let's take a moment to remember the sad saga of Cedar the pet goat, who was confiscated in California, then butchered, and then eaten.
We first told you about this story in 2023.
Here's a quick recap:
A nine-year-old girl raised a goat named Cedar. She entered Cedar into an auction at the Shasta county fair. The girl couldn't bear the thought of someone eating her pet. Jessica Long (the mom) rescued Cedar and offered to compensate the fair and the buyer. The buyer agreed, but the fair called the cops. A search ensued. Cedar was confiscated. Cedar was eaten.
The End
Or was it?
Nope. The family sued the county in federal court for issuing a false warrant and involving the police in what was a civil affair, regarding the rightful ownership of their pet goat ...
And they won a $300,000 settlement!!!
Here's where the story got even crazier.
For one thing, no one seems to know who butchered the goat, where his meat went, or how the deputies got involved in the first place.
Text messages discovered in the lawsuit showed that Cedar got the ax and was eaten, but those messages are also shrouded in secrecy.
Text messages uncovered during the federal lawsuit suggest that fair officials wanted to keep secret what happened to Cedar and who was involved.
'Kathy said ok but no one needs to know about this,' B.J. Macfarlane, livestock manager for the Shasta Fair Assn., wrote in a text message on July 22, 2022, to Shasta Fair Chief Executive Melanie Silva. In the message, he referenced Kathie Muse, a volunteer for the 4-H program and an organizer for the county's barbecue. 'U, me, and Kathy are the only ones. It got killed and donated to a non-profit if anyone asks.'
'We are a non-profit 😳🤣🤣🤣,' Silva responded.
Is Silva suggesting that fair officials ate Cedar?
No one knows!
Of course, the county is denying any wrongdoing whatsoever.
'The County did nothing wrong, but we recognize the risk and cost involved in going to trial, and so we agreed to settle the case,' Christopher Pisano, an attorney for Shasta County, said in an email. 'We are happy to be moving on and putting this case behind us.'
Happy to put the case behind them?
I'll bet they are.
However, the goat lady and her family aren't quite done. They still have open lawsuits against the county fair employees and a 4-H volunteer.
The only question that remains is, how much money will these people pay to keep the mystery of who ate Cedar a secret?
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
