Sorry, Internet: A Man Didn't Buy A Yak While High On Sleeping Pills

"We don't sell yaks over the internet," the yak farm's owner says.
Yuanping via Getty Images

Earlier this week, a story went viral about a man who claimed he purchased a yak while high on sleeping pills.

But it turns out that the journalists who reported were the ones snoozing: The story is fake, according to the people who supposedly sold the yak.

On April 11, a Reddit user named carefree_dude posted a story about how a friend of a friend ended up purchasing a live Golden Tibetan yak online for $3,075.99 from Yaks N Things, a yak farm based out of Clintonville, Wisconsin.

The man supposedly made the bizarre purchase while high on sleeping pills, but was able to cancel the order before the yak arrived at his home via livestock freight.

The story was reported by numerous outlets, including Al.com, the Metro and Yahoo! News, many of which were impressed by an official looking receipt supposedly from Yaks N Things.

reddit/carefree_dude

The receipt looks real, but it's completely fake and so is the story, according to Wendy Jorgensen, who co-owns Yaks N Things with her husband, Kyle.

"No one ever called us to verify the story," she told The Huffington Post. "It's not our invoice. We wouldn't ship a yak through a freight. A person would have to come here with a cattle truck."

The Jorgensens currently raise 24 heads of yak on their farm in central Wisconsin.

"It's very lean meat because the fat isn't marbled, it's on the outside to keep them warm in Tibet," she said. "Their hair can be turned into yarn that is softer than angora and warmer than wool."

Jorgensen said the story has increased website traffic, but, so far, no one has purchased a yak of their own.

But that may be a good thing.

"We don't sell them over the internet," she said. "And it would have to be to someone with a farm."

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