[Sherbatious border]

The background to this is a long story, but to cut it short, two of my neighbours have acquired sheep (2 per family) from another family in the area. I know for a fact that 2 of these sheep were the result of accidental inbreeding (poor fence maintenance allowed the boys to get into a paddock with their mother and sister) and none of the 4 have ear tags. The family who have sold these pets to the other families are farmers. What is the legal status of these sheep? I thought all sheep had to be registered with DEFRA and have ear tags? I'm not planning to make trouble for anyone, I'm just curious about the legal position and what happens if one of these sheep needs a vet.

[twizzel]

Ought to have been tagged before leaving the holding of birth, and gone with movement licenses. You don't need to register individual sheep with defra like you would cattle, but you do need to inform of any movements, be registered as keeping sheep on the holding and do a sheep inventory every year for sheep on the holding on 1st Dec, and have a flock book detailing movements between holdings, deaths, births etc etc. Really the families shouldn't have taken sheep with no tags (and I suspect no movement papers). The best thing they can do now is double tag the sheep with RED tags with their flock number. But to be honest unless they are your sheep I'd keep out of it as it seems a bit messy ! It shouldn't stop a vet from treating them but the vet could then pass on the info that they are untagged to the ministry.

[Herdygirl]

What Twizzel said plus if they are fattening them up they won't be accepted by the slaughter house without tags either.

[Marches Farmer]

If there is a Temporary Land Association with a nearby holding this negates the need for paperwork. 

[Fleecewife]

It's worth looking at why this legislation came into being. It's a way for central government to know who is keeping sheep, where they came from and where they are going to, in order that in the event of a notifiable disease breaking out, the source and probably infected flocks can be tracked and identified quickly.
I accept that you don't want to stir the    with your neighbours, but for the safety of all producers, and some chance of preventing disease spreading throughout Britain unchecked, I would have a quiet word with your neighbours.  The responsibility for tagging lies with the producer, and the movement documents originate with him/her too, but the owners also have a duty to abide by the system.  They probably have no idea of the rules and regulations surrounding keeping livestock, perhaps don't even have a CPH, so a friendly word from you, letting them know who to contact to put things right, is a positive thing to do, not dropping them in it.

[Sherbatious border]

Thank you all for your comments - Herdygirl, I am pretty sure the sheep have been acquired as pets/lawn mowers, not as food. One household already has other livestock purely as pets. The other two sheep have only just appeared but the family give me the impression they'd be into pets rather than raising Sunday lunch.
 
Fleecewife - I completely understand the reasons for tagging and movement papers, it all makes sense to me. The family who have bred these sheep kept sheep for years and raised them for the freezer so they are fully conversant with the DEFRA regulations! It's a very complex situation for reasons it would take far too long to go into. I always wondered what the situation was officially when you have 'accidental' breeding, after the first two were born. But when 2 more sheep with no tags appeared in the paddock of the new family who have recently moved in, I thought, well first, 'what? Again?' and then maybe there is some way around this that I don't know about. Obviously not!

When the opportunity arises I'll observe what lovely friendly sheep they are (my dog loves them and it's mutual!) but ask casually.. where are their ear tags? I'll see what the reaction is/what they've understood/been told and take it from there.... But at least they can get treatment if the animals are sick, albeit the owners might get reported. I was mainly concerned in case the sheep might suffer. The only thing worrying me now is that the new pair appear to be a boy and a girl.

[harmony]

I'm with Twizzel. You mentioned a "complex situation for reasons it would take far too long to go into" so I would leave them to it unless a welfare situation arises. Accidental breeding isn't uncommon. Done well it is line breeding.

[bj_cardiff]

I wouldn't say anything apart from 'their looking well' unless its a welfare issue! If they choose to break the rules than its their lookout. If their doing something that impacts on other peoples livestock then report them.. 

[Marches Farmer]

Thank you all for your comments - Herdygirl, I am pretty sure the sheep have been acquired as pets/lawn mowers, not as food. One household already has other livestock purely as pets. The other two sheep have only just appeared but the family give me the impression they'd be into pets rather than raising Sunday lunch.
 

Lawnmowers are just as susceptible to diseases such as Foot & Mouth Disease as any other variety, alas.