“Sacrificial Lamb?” CFIA to kill last remaining Shropshire lamb from Montana Jones’ flock today Aug. 24

This just in via Michael Schmidt:

The CFIA kill-team want the last word. They are scheduled to slaughter the last Shropshire lamb at the Wholearth Farm, Hastings, ON. Today Thursday Aug.24. (CFIA are regularly escorted by multiple OPP & armed Nat.Resources personnel.). The 4 month old lamb’s only ‘crime’ is symbolically being the last innocent survivor from the wrongly-accused flock of heritage Shropshire sheep that ‘went missing’ in April 2012.

Here’s a link to the National Post story about how the sheepnapping court case involving Michael Schmidt, Montana Jones, the CFIA, and other parties ended: http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/shepherd-wins-six-year-legal-fight-to-keep-flock-of-rare-sheep-from-government-slaughter

Some backstory from Montana Jones:

CFIA Sheep-napping case update

Farmed and Dangerous — a review of the Montana Jones / CFIA sheep saga

From Edible Toronto magazine:

From woolly sheep and bucolic farm life to criminal charges and gag orders.
I look around some days and wonder how I got here from there.

BY MONTANA JONES

Photo courtesy of Edible Toronto magazine

“2015

After a court date in March, I commented to my son on how the average murder trial would rarely amount to ten thousand pages of disclosure, yet the government’s sheepnapping case will be well over that number.

“This IS a murder trial,” he said. “A mass murder.”

He’s referring to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) killing my rare, very healthy heritage Shropshire sheep. They’ve murdered over a hundred Shrops in the last couple of years. Little lambs, rams, pregnant ewes, and their unborn. All were beautiful, and all were meant to live out their beautiful lives.

Michael Schmidt on the many mysteries of the Montana Jones and CFIA sheep-napping case now before the courts

From Michael Schmidt:

Patrick Lyster — part of the mystery? Photo from his website.

Let me begin with the statement that many disputed facts with regard to the mysterious sheep-napping case are in front of the court and cannot be revealed according to some RULES.

Let me state as well that it appears as if the prosecution seems to know the rules but likes to enforce them only when the accused appears to have abused them and disregards the rules whenever they see fit.

But all of this seems to be part of a society dominated by complacency and conformity.

Let’s explore the many mysteries, which surround the incredible saga of the lost sheep.

Mystery number one

Did Montana’s Shropshire sheep have scrapie in the first place??

In a democratic society one should expect that a government agency first should be required to provide proof “beyond reasonable doubt” of the existence of disease, before eradicating a herd of heritage sheep.

Publication Ban Sideshow Monday in Lindsay court for Schmidt, Jones, CFIA

Supporters of the defendants are being encouraged to come out to Monday’s court date at 9:30 am, Monday March 2, 2015 as the Crown argues why a publication ban would serve the public interest in this case. At least that’s what we imagine they might argue. Lindsay court is at 44 Kent St. in Lindsay, ON.

Montana Jones, Karen Selick, Michael Schmidt. Photo via theccf.ca

From theccf.ca:

“The preliminary inquiry in this matter started as scheduled on February 17, 2015. It was supposed to run on 10 consecutive court days, with an additional week at the end of April.

But on the second day of the prelim, lawyer Shawn Buckley was suddenly handed another 104 pages of documents that had never been disclosed previously by the prosecutor Damien Frost. Mr. Buckley had sent Mr. Frost a lengthy list of the documents he required approximately two years earlier, but Mr. Frost’s client, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)—for reasons known only to themselves—had failed to provide these important papers. Over the next two days, additional disclosure was handed to Mr. Buckley, bringing the total for the week to 382 pages.

Michael Schmidt, Montana Jones, CFIA Sheep-napping “Show Trial” is already attracting international interest

American raw milk journalist and food rights champion David E. Gumpert is following the case with interest, as evidenced by a recent post on his “The Complete Patient” blog. See excerpt below:

“In Canada, Stage Set for Food Rights Show Trial”

Michael Schmidt. Photo via Complete Patient blog.

“That sheep-napping case involving Canadian farmers Michael Schmidt and Montana Jones is turning into a major criminal and political drama.

If you’ll remember, this case stems from a 2010 dispute between the Canadian government and farm owenr Montana Jones over whether her rare Shropshire sheep should be slaughtered because they were supposedly exposed to the serious disease, scrapie. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the equivalent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, insisted the sheep needed to be slaughtered to determine for certain whether they harbored scrapie. Jones insisted there was no evidence they did, and sought to negotiate a compromise whereby her farm would be quarantined for up to five years to be certain. 

CFIA, Michael Schmidt, Montana Jones in court for first two days of “Prelim”

Observed at the Cobourg & Lindsay Courthouses

Farmer Montana Jones, lawyer Shawn Buckley, and farmer Michael Schmidt, at an earlier court appearance from a few years back. This case has been dragging on for quite some time now.

On the first day of the preliminary inquiry for Montana Jones and Michael Schmidt, a miffed-looking CFIA investigator was observed hanging around the Cobourg courthouse at the end of the day.  He had set himself up in the courtroom first thing in the morning, with his computer and printer, all ready to take notes for the day—and presumably ready to pass notes to Crown counsel.  But he suddenly found himself subject to the same rule as ordinary mortals: namely, a court order excluding witnesses from listening to the testimony of other witnesses.

Michael Schmidt breaks radio silence with first public interview in months

Michael Schmidt has been conspicuous by his absence from the raw milk and food rights scene for quite some months now. Instead of traveling the continent as keynote speaker at conferences, he quietly tends to his cows and avoids the limelight — which leads many to wonder what is up with the mystery man. Fortunately, for those who have been wondering, this recent self-interview from Michael sheds a little light on some of the latest developments in Michael’s long, and still continuing, work in the fields of raw milk and food rights.

A rather rare interview with Michael Schmidt:

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Associate Dean, University of Guelph, the only scientist who openly said that change should and can happen if the DFO would have the courage and the political will to tackle the raw milk issue. Marie-Chantal Houde, farmer and cheese maker from Quebec, Michael Schmidt

M:

It was hard to track you down and convince you to sit down for a one on one interview with yourself, why?

Michael:

There are several reasons for the withdrawal from the public view.

The last 8 years have been very intense and dominated by the legal battles in Ontario, BC and Alberta regarding raw milk.

Besides all the legal challenges I had a lot of speaking engagements in the US, Europe and here in Canada.

This was necessary in order to raise the awareness in regards to the loss of our fundamental right to make an informed and educated choice.

I am sure I made my point.

Accused sheep-napper pleads guilty; other three face pre-trial in February

Sheep photo by Laura Berman, via Montana Jones’ “Save our Shrops” FB page.

According to a Canadian Press story posted yesterday on Global News, one of the four people originally charged in the disappearance of  Linda (Montana) Jones’ 31 Shropshire sheep, has now pleaded guilty to one count of transport or causing to transport and an animal under quarantine. Suzanne Atkinson will be sentenced January 30th.

The sheep in question were removed in April of 2012 from Ms. Jones’ farm near Trent Hills Ontario, while the farm was under quarantine by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Suzanne Atkinson was among four persons charged by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency after the Shropshire sheep were removed in April 2012 while the farm near Trent Hills, Ont., was under federal quarantine by the CFIA.

Trial date in 2015 set in the Michael Schmidt and Montana Jones vs the CFIA sheep-napping conspiracy case

From Montana Jones:

Monntana Jones with Joel Salatin. Photo Liz Reitzig

I’ve been mostly quiet, waiting. Waiting for light, for inspiration, for renewed spirit, for solutions regarding the future and the farm and waiting for the date to be set for the preliminary hearing.

Don’t have all the answers yet. Forging ahead and trusting they will appear when they will. It’s hard to fathom it’s been four years of varying states of limbo already, since the CFIA Sheep Siege began. Four years!

The most important realization is that things will happen, things will change. For better or worse, they will change with or without me. Isn’t it better to show up?

I’ve felt monumentally supported at times, and at others, whipped myself with blame for being anxious and overwhelmed with the feeling that the CFIA has stolen my simple life.