Lynx Trust ‘bang out of order with sheep welfare inferences’

The National Sheep Association (NSA) yesterday struck back at Lynx UK Trust, claiming that insinuations that sheep producers were failing to look after the health and welfare of their stock were not only wide of the mark but also out of order.

A spokesperson for the NSA said that the UK’S sheep farmers operated to the highest welfare standards in the world – and ranked among the most productive while taking every opportunity to prevent and reduce losses from any cause.

In a media release the Lynx UK Trust had indicated that rather than worrying about the release of lynx, farmers and their organisations should concentrate instead on improving the level of care and attention given to their stock.

Responding yesterday, an NSA spokesperson said: “We see this as a shocking attack on the National Sheep Association when the organisation spends considerable resources supporting sheep farmers to improve the health and wellbeing of their flocks.”

John Fyall, chairman of the NSA’S Scottish region, said that the trust’s claims were “bang out of order” – and insinuating that farmers didn’t look after their stock misrepresented the truth of the matter:

“And this is why we have minimised engagement with the Lynx Trust as they seem keen to pick and choose whatever research or statistics they can lay their hands on to push their case, regardless of their relevance.”

The National Sheep Association said that while the release of six lynx might not devastate the entire sheep industry, such a move could have a devastating impact on a small number of individual farmers.