Ok I swear I didn’t want to talk about this one on the blog, I had a number of folks email letting me know about what was happening in regards to this one, that the cull was coming, I went- I read the owner’s of the flock website and little red flag after little red flag went up, and I really! wanted to have the offical other side but unlike the owner, the other side was keeping their side much more private publicly..
Then came the sheep napping, and I was so pissed I couldn’t see straight for about ten min, DH hubby got to listen to me rant and it was a true one, I went up and down from one end to the other, I try and keep a even balance on this blog between who I am and keeping some things private, but in order to understand why I say, I went from one end to the other, you need to understand that I am the type of person that votes, and lets them know how I feel on many polital subjects- not just once, and not just with one party..
I am the type of person that does not just send one letter, I have been known to write letters, call every single party till I get someone to speak with and not just provide my name and comment but want a followup letter back so that I know that at least ONE person has heard me. I have been known to call my MP on certain issues every single time they annouce on the issue. DH and I are both willing to go to seminars and marches, join groups we support etc. I have seen my man, take the day off work to go picket with a sign on the hill..
So I ran the from Big Brother Snarl, Snarl, share the whole story with the public and we have rights, covering ground on social media and how it can be used to both in a good an bad way, and how I could clearly see “issues” with a number of things that had a wicked amount of spin on them(by the owner of the flock, not the goverment in this case) and finally ended up in the…” needs and wants of one can NOT outway the good of all”
So when yesterday I read the next statement that a sheep has a confirmed case and then say the owner go all big brother, its not real, the results are not real, and its all a set up, and once again a read a very pointed and well done letter from Ontario Sheep Board (which in truth said it far more clearly and honestly then I could have) I was once again blown away by just how badly this could end for so many..
I pray and hope that whoever has this sheep has a clear proven line of direct from here to here and that they didn’t cross the path of any other sheep flocks, I hope that their being taken does not lead to many more sheep deaths in order to contain this mess..
And What a mess it is, I care for my animals, and in some cases it cross’s that line to a feeling of love and I would do everything I could to give them the best chance at it but sometimes you need to suck! it up and deal. I honestly feel for the person who had this happen to them, I have no doubt at all that their world has been flipped upside down.
However life often does not go as planned, and sometimes it sucks! and you are allowed to be angry, sad and have days where you cry but then you get the hell up and pull up your boots and get back to building and working your life… One foot forward somedays is all you can do, so be it..
Its not healthy or good to drag down the rest of us if you choose to stay in one spot and flail, which is how I see this personally, this person, these peaple took what was a personal stuggle with all the good/bad/ugly things that went with it and CHOSE to make it my problem and every other single sheep owners in ontario and in canada’s problem.. and let me tell you, I will stand up and fight for our rights as peaple, but don’t kick your mud into my pool!!!
I hope that they find that flock and soon, and I hope and pray that this mess will not lead to other flocks deaths and I also hope that it will not effect the market for ontario lamb both at farm gate sales and in stores.. but I see so many “maybe’s and what if’s ” that this could go anyway..
Just another Day on the Farm 
…that was EXACTLY my thoughts on the subject. Everything turned around when the statement was made about a confirmed case of Scrapie in a one of her current flock. I hate government interference as much and possibly MORE than the next guy but this sounds like a legitimate issue. Perhaps we’ll never know the complete truth of the situation however – no matter how much water you add to the pancake mix there’s still two sides to a pancake 🙂
Given that they had a confirmed case from a sheep sold from her farm, which is what started this whole thing, it is not a surprise to me that more animals on in her flock are indeed effected. I agree, always two sides, but in this case the bottom line for the other side is that the rules for our country is that any animals that have this disease or related disease (cow, etc) are put down.
The Bureaucrats in the Canadian Government can not be trusted at all. They routinely make up things and manipulate the truth to suit there own ends. This Government is so anti rights they will do anything and everything to take every right away from us that they can.
That being said the first Lamb probably did have the disease the rest are just a showdown situation to scare farmers into submission. They have done this time and time again, winning everything that comes their way, just like in the USA. Now I do not honour what the people did by taking her sheep away, although I certainly can see why they did it.
The Government Bureaucrats will run rough shod over any in their way of making their stats, quotas at the expense of the Canadian or in the case of US citizens. They have been given too much power, take too much power, create infractions and unjust penalties in order to justify their overpriced jobs and soon to claim overpriced golden and silver lining parachute pensions. Every single agency is like this, it has become a cascade of tyranny and red tape to justify the enormousness of government and their lifestyles.
They get kick backs from big business not little businesses so there is no incentive not stomp on the little bugs as they so kindly think of the average person in their respective countries. Big business can and will do anything they want, they have the Lawyers to do so, the money for the bribes and the petty Bureaucrats in their pockets.
Who is to say that this so called group is actually real citizens and not some team that is actually sponsored and sanctioned by the Government. They do this all the time in Alberta and Saskatchewan and in the US, see the detailed reports on the ATF, Agricultural agencies and others Agencies down there. Planting evidence and creating situations so that they can come down on everyone in an area is normal and just in their minds.
ps. sorry if I sound cynical, I am now.
Hmmm, well I do have more respect for the folks that work for goverment then you do, but moving on I have to say that as a small farmer, that the ontario govermenet has been very supportive of the growing number of small sheep farmers and I have been very pleased with many of their programs, and in fact will be attending one of their day long seminars (that they cover the cost on) this month again.
However, I do agree that the goverment will indeed use the powers they have to make sure that whenever possable that the rules and regs improsed world-wide in regards to food safety/large ag trades are going to happen, and if that means that if a disease like this is found on your farm, that you are going to see them step in and contant the issue, and cull the flock, then yes, that is going to happen.. Right or wrongly, I don’t see that as “Big Brother” so much as I see it as needed for the overall health and safety of the overblown massive meat machine that produces the meat that feeds the peaple from the stores..
Given what happened with the beef and how long its taken to slowly reopen boarders I think that it would be fair to say that the goverment should! in fact be darn right proactive on making sure that we don’t have borders closing again.
Thank you for your honest and clearly defined answer. Thank you for posting my comment as well.
I am glad that some small part of the government is still willing to help the average citizen, so thanks for posting that info as well. See the 1st paragraph for the program.
Cheers and have a great day, best of luck.
I was originally behind this for a number of reasons – from what I understood the sheep out west that tested positive was untagged and the owner said it had come from her farm several years earlier. To me that leaves a lot of variables unaccounted for. What I was opposed to was the all or nothing approach the CFIA was taking without empirical evidence (a post mortem sample on her flock). The way I understood it was that a live sample was done, they tested negative, but since the live sample is less reliable they were going to cull just in case. Now that it comes to light that one of the sheep was indeed infected, of course the situation needs to be dealt with, but I don’t think the government should be able to destroy your property and livelihood without having the evidence to back it up. There were so many more ways this could have been handled (quarantine, culling a sample and definitive testing) that would have left no argument and no doubts. And you’re right, let’s hope that flock wasn’t put with other sheep.
I hear you Daisy, I know that when a disease is found in your lines, your natural first response is to defend, and I get that and that the big push seemed to be that they were a rare breed, but there is ways around these things, a living example, I am personally aware of, a breeder imported lambs found out that they all have a heath issue, the local goverment worked with them, they breed, pulled the lambs and bottle raised the whole new flock, tested and had to cull every single import, was it hard, of course it was, they could have looked at flushing the ewes and collecting sperm for implant in a clean female, and allowed the very limited number of orginal sheep when the first sheep was found to be culled and tested, at that time, you would have found a) it was there, and you needed to move forward, or b) no, it was not there and you have retained all your genetics in your new now waiting for you flock.
opps, please devide between, they culled the imports, and then moving to the orginal subject when the first infected sold sheep was found..
What a tough situation. I can understand why she’d be devastated. From what I’ve read, it sounds like she tried offering the government agents some compromises, but they wouldn’t.
One problem I can see with the rectal test, which she says proves her flock is clean, is that it is only 85% accurate. That’s pretty low, isn’t it, when it comes to a serious communicable disease?
I’ve been following this too and I don’t know what to think any more- the info from all sides is confusing at best. Here’s link to yesterday’s article and the farmer herself posted this morning that all nine sheep they took recently tested negative. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/03/hide-go-sheep-woolly-houdini-raises-questions-about-how-agency-fights-livestock-disease/
O I agree Callie, both sides are working the spin factor for all there are worth and somewhere in that mess is the truth but the bottom line for me is a) a publicly recorded series of postive test results have been made b) the sheepnapping of that flock, and what that means can have possable direct effect on me, in terms of barn gate sales of ontario lamb meat, assuming that the napped sheep never end up anywhere near my own area (which is likely given the distance etc)
First and foremost, Scrapie is a prion disease. From what the news article stated, it appears that at least a 3-year span of time occurred from the time of sale to the time of the mandated quarantine (2007-2010). The CFIA organization should better understand the nature of prion diseases like Scrapie before they aggressively seize farm animals. Like other prion diseases, transmission is in one of 3 ways — acquired, sporadic, or familial. So unless there was specific prion chromosomal detection to match the disease to that sheep (or the herd), I would tend to believe the Scrapie occurred spontaneously (which does happen with prion diseases). One wonders if any sheep in the region were tested or if this was an isolated seizure. (Nevermind…I already know the answer to this.)
In a court of law, this case could be presented w/ scientific knowledge of the disease. Without adequate substantiation for the CFIA seizure, the sheep owner would see her herd returned, plus damages.
http://www.scrapiecanada.ca/
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/disemala/scrtre/scrtrefse.shtml
Hi Lynn
A few links to talk about what programs we have in place in canada, its my understanding that this breed of sheep is on the genotype list of being more likely to get it, but that is a study that is still ongoing.
Because of the nature of the disease, “if” the herd was taken with correct paperwork in place, the animals would be killed for testing, so while you are indeed paid in damages, there would be no sheep to return.
This has been a two year battle in the courts in regards to proof and yes, they finally had enough that they were able to get the courts to issue the kill order, which is when the sheep went underground..
http://www.betterfarming.com/comment/4197
and in the interest of making sure that you get both sides.. I do like the info that the bovine is putting out, this site is my go to site for keeping up the raw milk info and fight in canada at the moment but they are also covering the sheep story.
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/
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