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Lida Faillace author of Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind the USDA's War on a Family Farm |
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Friday, 07 December 2007 |
Join me for my interview of Linda Faillace, shepherdess songwriter and author of Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind the USDA’s War on a Family Farm.
www.radiosandysprings.com
or contact Linda at
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Or get a copy of her book at a wonderful small publishing house: www.chelseagreen.com
Linda told us the story of the condemnation, confiscation & murder of her healthy sheep by the USDA for what seems to me to be political reasons. No amount of actual proof that the animals were healthy and that they could not actually HAVE the disease they were purported to have had, would change the minds of the bureaucrats that were in charge. When it seemed inevitable that the sheep were to be condemned Linda and her husband had arranged to have the sheep returned to the farmer’s in Europe who had sold them in the first place. Our government would not allow that to happen. The sheep had to be killed.
Linda and her husband (who is a Veterinarian) started out working closely with the USDA to import milking sheep into Vermont. The breed of sheep grown here in the United States are bred for wool and not for milk. Farmer’s in Belgium and Europe have sheep for milking with yields sometimes as much as 3 times the amount that sheep who are not bred for the purpose produce. The followed the rules, had the sheep inspected and brought sheep only from farms that the USDA felt were safe. They thought it was all going along great. Their plan was to be breeders and developers of milking sheep in the U.S. Mad cow disease became an issue and somehow the USDA decided that their sheep had somehow been exposed or were carriers.
The story actually reads like a story out of Nazi Germany in the 40's. One of the most difficult pieces, for me, was the fact that Linda’s children were integrally involved in the working of their farm. One child milked the cows, another worked with the sheep in the field and another made the cheese. What a lesson for young children to learn... that the government is something to be feared. Join me for this interesting interview.
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