A?Canadian?farmer who had a flock of Blackbelly sheep from Barbados recently found out what a “baad” idea it was to put his sheep out to pasture.
Sandy Chappell, who is also a landscaper, set his flock of sheep on a vacant plot of land which was overgrown with bush, but city authorities in Richmond ordered him to get the sheep off the property as quickly as possible or face fines because the action was against the city’s animal control by-law.
A shocked Chappell thought it was an “ingenious” plan to have the sheep eat down the grass.
He was hired by a developer to cut the three-acre lot, which was overgrown with 15-foot high blackberry bushes.
He had utilized heavy machinery to get the work done in July, but in late August when the bush grew back Chappell, who had a flock of 60 Blackbelly sheep, decided to let his sheep graze on the land.
“I’ve been doing these clear-cutting things for years and years. But, instead of using heavy diesel machinery again, I thought it would be a great idea to put some sheep in and have them eat the rest instead.
“This used to be a farm, after all; the foundations of the barn are still there and this is good, agricultural land,” Chappell explained, while insisting that there was plenty of natural shelter on the land for the sheep under large trees. (MB/Vancouver Sun)
