Sheep-in-house woman plans legal fight

The sheep are in Carolyn Hoffe's living room

A woman who has barricaded her five pet sheep in her living room to protect them from the foot-and-mouth cull says she plans to start legal proceedings.

Carolyn Hoffe usually keeps the Dutch Zwartbles sheep as pets in a paddock close to her home in Glasserton, near Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway.

The animals are due to be culled because the paddock is within three kilometres of an infected farm.

She hopes to have the animals examined by a vet on Wednesday for signs of the disease after which her lawyer will submit an affidavit.

Carolyn Hoffe: Plans legal action

The Scottish Executive said it will wait for a court's decision before taking any further action

Mrs Hoffe barricaded the animals in her house on Monday to stop executive officials from carrying out the slaughter.

She ripped out her living room carpet, replaced it with sawdust and straw and put all her furniture upstairs so the sheep - named Maggie, Matthew, Melissa, Emily and Eva - could move in.

Mrs Hoffe - who also placed furniture up against the windows and doors of a room to stop officials trying to get into the house - said that after three days and two nights the animals were adjusting to their new surroundings.

She said: "You would think they had lived there all their lives. They are very happy."

Rare species

Mrs Hoffe has also been given a lift by messages of support from across the UK.

"One man called me from Birmingham and said that he has pet sheep and has turned Maff officials away twice.

"I have also had calls from people in Carlisle, Cumbria and the north of Scotland.

"It is nice to know that people are thinking about you."

She has argued that her sheep, which are a rare species, have no trace of the disease and are kept away from farm animals and therefore they should be spared.

I really feel like I am in limbo and I just hope that the government will change their mind about this.

Carolyn Hoffe

Describing her predicament, she added: "I really feel like I am in limbo and I just hope that the government will change their mind about this.

"I am doing this for my own sheep but I am also hoping that it will help other sheep."

Mrs Hoffe said she had had no contact with Maff or the Scottish Executive since Monday.

A spokesman for the executive said it had no plans to change its strategy.

Legal issues

He added: "We do still intend to proceed with the cull as soon as we can but obviously there is the suggestion that Mrs Hoffe is going to take legal action.

"If she challenges our policy in the courts then we will have to get the legal issues clarified.

"Nothing will happen before then."

The spokesman added: "Even if the animals do not have the disease they could be carrying it as they were out in the open up until a few days ago in an area where there have been a number of confirmed cases."