Police traveled more than 800 km to find a goat that was killed in order to “teach a lesson” to a girl who hoped to be able to adopt the animal.
The event, which took place last summer, had been widely denounced by the Californian organization Advancing Law for Animals, but has returned to the news in recent days, attracting the attention of many major American media including the “Los Angeles Times “.
It all started when a 9-year-old girl was taken through a program at her county 4-H club in northern California to raise a goat named Cedar. For three months, the child took care of the animal, which was ultimately sold at an auction to be sent to the slaughterhouse, to his great dismay.
To console her daughter, Jessica Long offered to the organizers of the Shasta County Fair to buy back the goat and compensate them for the trouble incurred.
This request, however, degenerated into an argument between the mother and the organizers who demanded to obtain Cedar. They finally got help from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, which sent detectives with warrants on a journey of more than 800 km to find the goat.
The warrant, worthy of a drug or firearms search, stated that officers might “use equipment to break down entrance doors, exits and closed containers of any rooms, garages, warehouses and exterior buildings large enough to hold a goat,” the Los Angeles Times noted.
The organization Advancing Law for Animals considers disproportionate the means used to find a simple goat. His lawyer, Vanessa Shakib, said in an interview with the “Times” that the organizers of the fair wanted to “teach the little girl a lesson”.
The organization is currently suing the sheriff’s office alleging that it violated the Constitution’s 4th Amendment – which protects citizens from unreasonable searches – and the 14th, which notably dictates that states cannot deprive people of their property detriment of the law.
