Good and Bad

This year is being good and bad for sheep. 

A good thing is that in the UK, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 - in its legal recognition that vertebrates, cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans are sentient - recognises sheep’s sentience. It is to be hoped that the fact that sheep feel pain, fear and joy, will now be accepted across the world.

Ban Live Exports : International Awareness Day was on 14th June. Compassion in World Farming held a rally in Parliament Square. Its leaflet for ‘Hell Tours’ from ‘Your #1 Animal Travel Agency’ outlined what a trip to Europe includes:

‘Accommodation - Towering trucks and “vintage” vessels hardly changed since their use as cargo ships in the 70s

Temperature control - Won’t vary outside of 0 to +35 degrees Celsius!

Long-haul dining - Clean water provided but access to food limited

Special care - Weak, pregnant, and unweaned passengers are welcome

Health care – One inspector for thousands of guests’

Two days before, a live export ship carrying 15,800 sheep - several thousand more than the ship’s load limits - to Saudi Arabia sank leaving a Sudan port. Only about 700 of the sheep survived, but they were ill and not expected to live for long.

An end to live export of animals from England, Scotland and Wales for fattening or slaughter is in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The Bill started going through the UK Parliament in June 2021 but it still has a way to go, so might it be that government commitment to what the Bill addresses is now not strong?

In 2022 it has been shown that climate change is a reality. There has been drought. There have been floods. Both bringing threats to sheep’s well-being. In places across the world, pasture has not been green and juicy but dry, and so supplementary feeding has been necessary. Wildfires threaten injury, even death, to sheep. Floods bring danger to sheep of drowning.  

As Dickens said, ‘best of times … worst of times’.