Florida Woman Sues Neighbor Over Paternity Tests on Goats to Prove the Animal's DNA Lineage

(Photo : Photo by David McNew/Newsmakers)
Goats protect ocean view homes from wildfire June, 6, 2000 in Laguna Beach, CA. by devouring coastal chaparral that can potentially fuel brush fire and destroy homes in the area. Although the goats provide a cost effective brush-clearing method, some environmentalists worry that they also destroy endangered plants and alter the ecosystem.

In an odd case involving a paternity test on goats, a Florida woman filed a lawsuit against a neighbor who sold her goats demanding to either prove the DNA lineage of the goats or give her a refund.

According to Snopes, back in February, Kris Hedstrom has initially demanded a paternity test proving DNA lineage of the goats she purchased from Heather Dayner. Hedstrom said that she would take the matters to court if Dayner did not comply with her request.

To prove she wasn't kidding around and was serious about suing, by the end of May a civil lawsuit was filed against Dayner. The lawsuit included the demands for proof of DNA of the goats or refund of the money used to purchased the goats and also the costs for lawyer and fees.

Based on the reports, Dayner soled five Nigerian Dwarf goats to Hedstrom for $900 back in December. It was also stated that Hedstrom expected that she would be able to register the goats with a group that records pedigrees for goats, the American Dairy Goat Association since registered goats are valued higher.

According to Hedstrom, when she bought the goats Dayner said that the father of the goats was registered to the organization. However, the group rejected the registration application which Hedstrom tried to submit for the babies claiming that Dayner is not an active member of their organization.

In order for the paternity test to go through, about 40 hair follicles from the father goat will be needed for the test. This is the reason why Hedstrom sent a letter to Dayner requesting the DNA back in February.

Dayner on the other hand who has been in the goat selling business for almost a decade at Baxter Lane Farm said that she offered to refund the money to Hedstrom in exchange for the goats. She also said that information about the goats is typically given to her clients upon purchase so that they will be able to register the animals.

Dayner also said that in the past months, Hedstrom had trespassed on her farm and has called on the police on her. This was proven by the documents obtained from the office of the Hillsborough County Sheriff which stated that a deputy visited the property back in the spring for at least three times.

Moreover, Dayner said that she tried to contact Hedstrom in order to discuss the matter. However, the last message that she received from her neighbor was sent back in March telling her not to contact Hedstrom again. After this, she did not hear anything from Hedstrom until she filed the lawsuit in May.

Meanwhile, according to Tampa Bay Times, one of their reporters spoke with Hedstrom and even got a copy of the goats' pictures, however, after the outlet spoke to Dayner, Hedstrom immediately retracted her statement and also threatened to impose legal action on the website if a story about the goats will be published.

Dayner, on the other hand, said that she would represent herself in court because she does not want to spend money paying a lawyer.