Hill sheep farming is cruel
1 February 2001
‘Hill sheep farming is cruel’
By FWi staff
CONSUMERS should boycott spring lamb and mutton because rearing sheep in hills and uplands is against nature, claims a vegetarian group.
These accusations are levelled in a new report by vegetarian economy and green agriculture group VEGA, reports the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today programme.
Dr Alan Long of VEGA said it is bad husbandry to expect sheep to give birth in less-favoured areas, and claimed that neo-natal losses stood at 20%.
But National Sheep Association chief executive John Thorley dismissed this criticism of hill farming as “rubbish”.
He told Farming Today that the industry linked hill, upland and lowland sheep varieties to ensure they were bred for their surroundings.
Mr Thorley said a considerable proportion of sheep were brought in for lambing, but there was a danger that animals could lose their hardiness.
Dr Long said sheep meat was not popular and had to be pushed for consumers to buy it.