goat selling question

[mekasmom]

I had a couple of does that I was going to take to the farmer's market. One 3yo nubian was not easy to milk, and the other 4yo overhasli was dried up. I decided to sell her and keep her sister who was still milking. They were both broke to lead, and docile except that the nubian tended to stomp when you milked her.

A friend asked if I would sell them to one of her neighbors instead, which was fine with me. At least I would know where they would go, and get to hear of their progress. She told me the neighbors were a foster family who wanted some goats to eat down pasture weeds, and the foster child could interact with.

My friend came and picked the goats up Wednesday evening. I never saw them again, and got a check for them Sunday which I cashed on Monday. The following Friday, about ten days after they left my property, I was contacted by the friend that one of the goats was ill, and died the next day. The people wanted to know -what did I do to the goat?

The simple answer is nothing. All my goats are fine. Nobody is ill, nobody has any issues. I didn't do anything to the goat except worm it, feed it, and make sure it was kept up to date on all vaccines like I do for all my goats. In fact the sister to the goat in question is just fine. And they looked exactly the same at the time of sale. They were treated exactly the same here.

Personally, I would just give the people back their money, but my husband won't let me. He has a valid point that something must have happened to the goat between here and when it died. He actually believes that the "troubled" foster child living at the house may have killed it. That boy beats the foster Mom, so it does make me wonder. (I didn't know he had these issues until all this happened and more details of their life came out.)

Anyway, my question is, what would you do? I don't want to upset my husband, but I don't want the people angry either. They only had possession of the goat a week and it died. I understand their frustration. But I still have all my goats, and none are ill. Between here and there my friend had the goat. And since she has dozens of them, I am sure she didn't do anything to hurt it. It was less than a hundred dollars, so maybe just giving them back their money and letting hubby grumble would be the best? It's not fair to us, but it might sooth their feelings.

The last I heard the other goat was ok. But I haven't seen them, just heard through my friend. In fact I never met these people at all, just through my friend who is their neighbor.

I did learn a lesson. I will never sell a goat privately again. They will all go to the small animal farm market if I decide to thin some out. At least that way, they are examined by the vet before the sale which gives you some protection.

 

[wvwiley]

If you really want to settle it i would make offer to give back half the money and explain that the other goats is fine . A person like that can ruin future sales of any animals you have i have had it happen i tell all farm buyers to inspect the goat and look it over before it leaves the farm. i have typed a small bill of sale to explain that the purchaser takes the Animal in the condition it is in at time of signing the paper i have a spot for any refund or no refund I sometimes sell animals for breeding and give refunds for different reasons. I explain this paper to them in this way so they dont feel your trying to ripe them off.

i tell them i use the paper for all items sold it even includes scraipes tag # description etc,so if anyone tries to say the animal belongs to them or if thier is ever a question of where the animal came from ie; a theft and sold at market thye seem to understand and never question siging it.

good luck

 

[Farmer Kitty]

We would love to have you visit us at

 

[helmstead]

It was healthy when it left, it was likely related to the move/change in diet...the list goes on. You are not liable. The most I would do is offer a discount on another purchase to keep the remaining doe company.

Come on over to BackYardHerds.com!

 

[citrusdreams]

I wouldn't do anything. It's an unfortunate thing that the goat got sick and died, but she was in good health when they took her. They saw the goat at the time of purchase correct?

Did they offer to show you the body? I'm only asking because anything could have happened: not only the trouble child doing damage, but a predator might have attacked it, or it could have gotten caught up in fencing, or it may have been treated differently than you treat it in such a way that proved detremental (it could have bloated from too much food, it could have died of thirst). She could have simply been stressed.

Point is, they saw the goat at the time of purchase. Stuff happens and we always take a risk when bringing a new animal home. I understand you want them to be happy. Anyone with an ounce of integrity would. But you shouldn't have to pay for something that happened to it after it left you in good condition.

Just MOHO.

 

[cutiepieacres]

I have a contract that is signed by the buyer and in that contract buyers have a certain amount of time to contact me if somthing is wrong with their animal. They also must have a vet diagnose or necropsy the animal and determine that it was ill before it was sold and in the case of neglect on the new owners part no monies are returned. I Personally give 48 hours though this is geared more towards my cavies(guinea pigs). Goats I may say a little longer though a week is pushing it, anything can happen in a week.

I also require that the person/s buying the animal must come to me and spend a little time looking at and in my case bonding with the pygmy goat they intend to buy as I can also usually get a god sense of what kind of home my baby might be getting and I have denied people at this point if they just dont seem right. This way they have also in a way verified that the animal looks healthy at the time of sale.

but it sounds like at this point its up to you, I am not sure in this case I would feel the need to offer a refund, unless they had some sort of verification that it wasnt their fault.

 

[mekasmom]

Thank you all. I didn't meet the people, nor did they see the goat at my home. And there was no contract. This was all handled through a friend. I trust her (still do), and these were her neighbors. She picked the goats up at my home, took them to hers, and sold them to her neighbor. From my understanding the neighbor knew nothing about goats, but just wanted a couple for his pasture to keep down weeds. I know that she didn't do anything to cause the goat to die nor did I. It's possible it was simply ill without anyone knowing, but I would think it more likely that something happened at the neighbor's house. They kept asking her to buy some of her goats, but they didn't want any of her extra baby billys. She has a large herd, and didn't want to part with any nannys.
I just feel bad about it and don't want to upset the people nor my husband. Plus this was a sweet goat. It's a shame anything happened to her. Oberhasli's have such a nice temperament.
I did learn to avoid any private sales like this though.

 

[Nubiansrus]

I would not return the money until they could prove something was wrong with the goat. The accepted the goat from your friend, so they accepted the shape she was in. But I would also think about in the future having the person come over and meet the goat and you meet them. But whos to say that would have avoided this, but maybe youd have known a bit more about where the goat was going.

 

[MandyH]

I've had a couple of deals gone bad like this. I KNOW at the time of sale that my animal/s is in the best condition. The person is able to look, feel, handle and ask questions before purchase. After money exchanges hands, my liability ENDS. Right then, right there. DO NOT give those people anything back. If there had been something wrong with that goat it would have been apparent way before 7-10 days and they could have contacted you. Do not ever go thru a middle man either. I don't care how good a friend they are, it always ends in trouble. Politely tell the folks that the animal was well cared for and healthy at the time of sale and you ARE NOT responsible for it after it leaves your farm. If they would like another goat that they are welcomed to come to your farm and purchase another. P.S. don't take checks either, that's a good way to lose money. They get the goods, you may get a bad check and you are out your animal AND money. Been there done that.

 

[griffin45]

I just have to wiegh in on this one. If I sell to another goat owner they know what the deal is, but if I sell to someone that is not a goat owner I make sure that they have all the info for feeding and meds and what not before they get the animal and they have all of my info for immediate contact. I loaned a Boer to another owner last months. He payed me for him before he went to his farm. And when he came home the other day I payed him. As goat owners we know anything can happen. If you sell to a non goat owner you take some responsibility in its health if you don't educate the new owner. That is my opinion and a good business policy. We want new owners to enjoy the goats and get more! If you are not in the normal business of selling goats, then I would have to say a deal is a deal.

Chris

I am sorry to here about the goat!