Obtaining unmarked sheep??
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 8:37pm — June A. Smith
On our island it is impossible to get every last sheep in off the hill as there are few able bodied people to work and lots of the sheep go into the banks where it's unsafe for dogs or people to go. We work with ear-notches to identify our sheep. Any that can't be caught are obviously left unmarked. At tupping time it is possible to catch a few of these unmarked rams and lambs that come down to the road. I have caught many and I have added a few of the best to my flock to be kept on the croft all the time. In essence I am buying nobodies sheep, how does this get put in my records on this site?
You can of course always
You can of course always phone yur local RPID office for any advice..... they really are very helpful!!!!!
Inaccessible Lambs
At the moment the legislation says that in extensive holdings all sheep must be tagged within 9 months from their "date of birth" or before they have left the holding of birth - whichever is the soonest (Quick guide to sheep identification).
We have been trying to get the legislation changed so that sheep do not need to be tagged till they have left the holding of birth for the first time irrespective of their age.
Your situation illustrates why the change to requiring to tag when leaving the "leaving the holding of birth for the first time" is more practical.
Ear notches are not accepted as "Official ID" although they have been used effectively for hundreds of years. However some would argue that if you can ear notch a sheep - then there is nothing to stop you tagging it at the same time.
It is very likely the inspectorate and policy in Scot Gov may take a lenient view in a situation where some lambs simply cannot be gathered. However we will check with them and post back when we get more definitive information.
Sorry not to be any more helpful (especially in the festive season) - we are trying our best and we didnt make up the rules.
Unfortunately what I have outlined above is the way it is at the moment. Good evidence like you have is what we need in order to get workable solutions.
H
Common sense approach required...
I agree with administrators reply above.
We must ask those who impose the rules - why do we need to tag the sheep in the first place?
The answer we will get is for 'reasons of disease control in event of major outbreaks'. Your problem poses ABSOLUTELY NO disease risk, so the enforcement to the letter of the law would be totally disproportionate.
We can only hope that by raising such anomalies ( possibly having to repeatedly do it..) that we can eventually get through to the beaurocrats that there are always problems to which there has to be flexibility.
Thanks again to those Merry souls behind the scenes at Scoteid who are trying very hard to make the seemingly impossible work!