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new import rules for sheep into the U.S. ?

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    new import rules for sheep into the U.S. ?

    I got this from a sheep producer friend.
    Anyone else out there heard of this?Let's hear your opinions.

    Subject: NEW U.S. SHEEP BRANDING RULE CALLED CRUEL


    > NEW U.S. SHEEP BRANDING RULE CALLED CRUEL
    > WebPosted Thu Jul 21 16:55:33 2005
    >
    > ---Some sheep producers say a new requirement that sheep must be branded
    > with hot irons before they can be shipped south of the border is cruel.
    >
    > Canadian cattle were banned from United States markets after the bovine
    > spongiform encephalopathy crisis hit in May 2003 – but so were
    > other farm animals, such as sheep and lambs.
    >
    > With the border finally reopening to all live imports this week,
    > producers can send lambs younger than 12 months south of the border once
    > again. But they'll have to be hot-branded first, something sheep
    > producer
    > Dwayne Morvik of Eastend, Sask., says he's never seen done before.
    >
    > "When you're talking about branding cattle for export to the
    > States, you're usually talking about an animal that's 800 to 900
    > pounds," he said.
    >
    > "We're talking about lambs here that are 80 to 90 pounds, and to put a
    > large brand on a small lamb would just be cruel."
    >
    > In Canada, sheep are identified by ear tags, a system the Americans
    > don't
    > recognize.
    >
    > Morvik said that in addition to the cruelty issue, branding a lamb means
    > shaving off valuable wool. It would also ruin the skin, which is used in
    > leather products.
    >
    > In any event, Saskatchewan's sheep development board is encouraging
    > producers to sell their products at home.
    >
    > According to board spokesman Gordon Schroeder, producers generated
    > only half the lamb consumed in Canada before the U.S. border closed.
    > Since then, the industry has been saved by developing homegrown
    > markets, he said.
    >
    > Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.
    >
    The strength of local markets here in N.S. helped lessen the effects of the border closure and also helped refocus producers on the potential for the sheep industry to grow.The limiting factor here is processing capacity.We really don't 'need' to export sheep anyway.If tags are fine on cattle ,why not lambs?Are the U.S. producers branding their own lambs? or is this just some more crap for us to deal with !

    #2
    The Americans do not promote a permanent brand in their flocks. They do have a permanent ID ear tag for their scrapies program.

    Our sheep are required to have a pink permanent eartag before it leaves its farm of origin. IF we can get the collective brain cells of the USDA to form up and think, why then wouldn't they just allow a double tag system like they require in Quebec? While I don't agree that 2 tags are necessary, it would be much more humane for the sheep and lambs.

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