Sale of Firstborn Cow to Non-Jew Without Meshicha and Bechor Status

Description

A Jew sold a firstborn cow to a non-Jew via deposit, loan, and handshake but without meshicha; the cow then gave birth to a firstborn male calf. The Chasam Sofer rules that there are very strong grounds for leniency, arguing that situmta is a Torah-level kinyan and that even if Rabbinic, a sfek sfeka exists regarding whether such a kinyan suffices to exempt from bechor obligations; additionally, the handshake may constitute a valid kinyan through dina demalchusa dina. As a practical remedy, if further stringency is desired, a non-Jew may cause a blemish in the animal provided no tza'ar ba'alei chaim is involved.