Siblings Try To Restore Family Name After State Fair Disqualification

SEDALIA, Colo. (CBS4) - A Colorado family wants to restore its name after a controversy involving prize winning goats at the Colorado State Fair.

The goats were disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance, but the family thinks someone drugged the animals.

Siblings Maggie and Ben Weinroth, of Sedalia, each won grand champion prizes for their goats in their divisions at the fair this year.

"Oh my gosh, my whole family was down there, my dad drove down," Maggie told CBS4. "And for about 10 years I've been trying (to win)."

But that feeling would be short lived.

"In October we just totally out of the blue get this letter that said we used Ractopamine," she said.

Ractopamine is an illegal growth additive for pigs.

After that both Weinroths were stripped of their titles, were banned from competition at the fair and they lost their prize checks, which totaled $7,000.

"We were mostly confused and just blindsided because we've never used something that wasn't ethical in our animals," Maggie said.

"It's just kind of sad," Ben said.

Maggie says while the goats were in the care of the state fair, they noticed some foreign food in their pen but didn't think much of it.

"And honestly I can't say if someone did it out of ill will or just did it on accident," she said.

Officials with the state fair shared the following statement about the situation:

Our investigation did not conclude how that drug entered into the goats' systems or by whom but that does not change the rules.

The siblings say they don't care about the prize money, instead they feel that their reputation is on the line, as well as a future in the agriculture business.

"It means so much more to me to be known as someone who has good character instead of someone who got a check once in their life," Maggie said.

The state fair says the goats have been destroyed.

They took samples from them before they put the animals down.

The Weinroth family lawyer also says they haven't been told of that evidence and will be appealing the decision.