There will be no heritage spring lambs if CFIA kills my pregnant mothers. It’s down to the wire. The CFIA government wolves are closing in on the flock, snapping at their heels, almost within reach of their throats. They are about to serve an “Order of Destruction” to kill my beautiful pregnant ewes, who are ready to lamb come spring… Over 2,700 signatures on our petition to stop CFIA means people ARE concerned about this irrational irreversible decision…so I’m asking your opinion….
DoubleSpeak from Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
Does Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz have difficulty communicating…or understanding concepts? Clearly the facts are not his strong point. His long awaited letter says a great deal of…nothing. He did not respond to a single issue I raised concerning the CFIA’s proposed destruction of 44 rare heritage Shropshire sheep that have all tested negative for scrapie. He merely recited some generic lines which don’t address any of the questions in my letter to him. Clearly he is not listening to the 2,700 and growing petitioners who want to prevent Canada’s heritage sheep from extinction.
This is his response received two months later, I have put my concerns underlined in brackets:
Unique Wholearth flock genetics
Dr. Tom Hutchinson examines the unique heritage genetics of the Wholearh Shropshire flock ~ A number of outstanding Canadian pioneer farmers and livestock traders began a tradition, which lasted more than 50 years, of going back to the British Isles to look for the best animals they could find. They also sought out animals they […]
A Wilder Shropshire
Shropshires are a very Likeable Sheep. So easy to fall in love with that face—that button nose—those cute little ears…
Gene Wilder did!…yes, Daisy was a Shropshire too…the winsome wooly his character fell for in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About…”
Agri-speak
The sheep are not this tall, and I am not this short…I’m kneeling with the fluffy flock last winter, with Australian Cattle Dog Pi at right.
So…had a discouraging phone meeting today with my MP…he had a ‘very brief’ conversation with Agriculture Canada Minister Gerry Ritz last week. Clearly, our Minister of Agriculture is not fully informed nor even slightly knowledgeable on sheep nor scrapie nor genetics. This Goliath doesn’t even communicate in the same language…shouldn’t he know a little something about an agricultural matter his government has just spent 4.5 million dollars to ‘look into’? He’ll have to be educated before he can even enter into any discussion on the matter , and time is running out.
#1 on CFIA’s Hit List—Avril
Meet the Flockers on Death Row
This is Wholearth Avril 8N, one of our pregnant flock ewes who is on the hit list to be killed by CFIA. She will be 8 years old this spring, when she is due to have lambs…maybe even triplets like last year! If CFIA lets her live, she could very well live to be 14 like her dear old Dad Miller (Kelsey Miller 1F). She is a wonderful heritage combination of genetics, out of an Ed Jackson ewe 3L.
Miller’s 1,340 signatures
(Update March 14, 2015: Over 11,000 now!) We’ve reached 1,340 signatures in just three days since launching the site, the petiton, and the campaign to stop CFIA and Agriculture Canada from destroying our healthy flock of Shropshire sheep. We will keep going…pass on the link to sign the petition. Meet Miller…he is the essence behind […]