On the lam, they are ram-bling about.
I like to think that I am a good writer. That is, when I feel like it.
This post is a two-parter. First the serious and then the light-hearted. Scroll down if you don't want to read the serious. [Or, Scroll down if ewe want to read the less shearious]
An acquaintance of mine is the son of Montana Jones, owner/operator of Wholearth Farmstudio in Hastings, Ontario. Jones raises a rare breed of sheep called the Shropshire. This breed once numbered in the thousands in North America, but has since been reduced to a few hundred. Jones is one of the few farmers out there with a flock of these rare (and technically endangered) sheep. I don't know the history when it comes to testing our livestock in Canada, but I know that ever since the Mad Cow (aka Bovine Spongiform Encephalopy [BSE]) scare of the 90s, it seems that we have taken testing a little more seriously. Within my brain, I possess an encyclopedia of which covers many different topics. This is the result of my reading all sorts of things and somewhat being a wiki-fan. If something comes up in the news, I will read about it. So I am aware of two things that can really screw things up for a Sheep farmer.
The first is flystrike [aka Myiasis], where sheep are subject to an agonizing infestation (of maggots) in their hindquarters. It's pretty nasty and disgusting, so don't bother to research it. The treatment/prevention of flystrike is through a surgical technique called Mulesing. It's considered cruel by animal rights groups who don't understand **** (aka PETA). [Did you people not watch Old Yeller as kid? You think Travis wanted to shoot him?] Anyone with half a brain can understand not performing mulesing on a sheep is far crueler to the animal. This is one of those few cases where I'll say that it's "good for the economy". Justification for statement? Merino wool is awesome and mulesing is done on Merino sheep, which are raised [AFAIK] for wool, not food. The second disease I know of is Scrapie. This is because of the situation affecting the previously mentioned Wholearth Farmstudio sheep farm. The Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) somehow concluded that Montana Jones' flock had to be destroyed. This is in spite of the fact that the flock has (apparently) tested negative for scrapie.
Scrapie is related to BSE/Mad Cow. Therefore, its understandable the CFIA would take such a thing seriously. Scrapie is so named because sheep infected with it have a tendency to scrape themselves against any surface they can, in order to 'scratch an itch' they otherwise can't reach. Naturally, other symptoms hit the animal; a few are even similar to how BSE affects cows. Regardless of those other symptoms, Scrapie becomes painfully obvious in the affected animal as it effectively scrapes off all of its wool.
In other words: a lab test isn't necessarily required to check the animals fluids for the disease if they have self-shorn all their wool off on the nearest rock. I may be over-simplifying this, my farming experience is extremely limited to working with Horses, Cows and Chickens, and staying the hell away from pigs. What? They're dangerous!
Nevertheless... Despite having had lamb for dinner twice in the past few days, I am NOT a fan of the meat. I can appreciate the nuances of rosemary and mint as should be used when enjoying mutton, but it's not an acquired taste for me. Unless you braise it in beer, then it's different story! I am a fan of a somewhat more sustainable source of meat and textile. I'm sure that sheep fit the bill for both. I'm equally sure there's research out there that would support the idea that Sheep are far more sustainable than cows. Let's face it... Sheep yield more than cows in terms of products [meat, wool, sheepskin] and they take up less space. Mind you, the space argument is also in favour of chickens and it doesn't work in their favour. Back to the CFIA. I am, for the most part, not an individual who is impressed by the actions of the CFIA. I had a job where the CFIA would use services provided by the company I worked for and often, we would see food recalls at the ungodly hours of 3 or 4 am, on Saturday mornings. Often, I would see that the person sending me the email for the food recall, had received it from someone else over 12hours earlier. One particular case, the email trail showed a day and a half time-frame where it sat in the sender's inbox, before they forwarded it to me. In a world where corporate social responsibility is becoming more important, this is really disgusting. I'm done with the serious now. Now for the fun. Here is the facebook page for SaveOurShrops. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.272736312812974.67148.195955600491046&type=1 Here is what I posted earlier today.
Ewe take the good, ewe take the bad, ewe take the rest and there you have the flocks of life. Speaking of life... these sheep have been given a new fleece on life. The flock is now free from being pen-sive about life and able to experience it. No longer are they to sheep and perchance to dream. They can now enjoy their muttonomy and bask in a lambslide of fun things to do. Through their own shear determination they make best of their wool-wind tour. Perhaps go on a ram-page through the Ewe-nited States. Go to Newe York and see Wool Street? Hang out with Hip Hop superstars, the Wool Tang Clan? Newe York can be an expensive place, so perhaps they'll move on quick to newe pastures. Go to Hollywool'd and maybe see a movie at Grauman's Chinese Theatre - I would recommend the Richard Gere classic "An Officer and a Gentle-lamb" or maybe Jodie Foster in "Silence of the Lambs", or Ben Stiller's "There's something about Mary". They'll go on sheep dates. Free to get blaasted and Many miles to go before they can sheep. After all, it's a ewe-tiful woold out there. Maybe after Braaa-zil, they'll go to Italy and rent a Lamb-orghini? There's no way they could ever get behind the wheel of a Furrari. Maybe go to Greece and tour the lands that Aries-totle once taught at. We may not know where the flock is now, but we can all figuratively stand behind them and say to them "EWE CAN DO IT!". One thing is for sure. Their 15 muttons of fame are not done yet: this IS to be contin-ewed... Okay... I'm done now with the ewe-phemisms. I think I may have bleat-en a few to death.
And here is the response from Montana.
Jos ewe deserve more than a hooves up for this.after a distraught week this comment is outstanding in it's field. Made me smile to tears... I miss them and it's been incredibly stressful... But thinking of them in various scenarios touring the globe is fantastically lightening... Thanks to everybody for giving voice
Happy Easter everyone! Hope ewe are enjoying it!
