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Edmonton sheep farmer fights to save his urban flock

Edmonton orders sheep farmer to get the flock outta there

Edmonton city councillors may be feeling a tad sheepish after receiving an unusual visitor at city hall.

In a bid to be allowed to keep a flock of 50 sheep on his hobby farm in southeast Edmonton, computer programmer David Koch brought Bambi, a week-old orphaned lamb, to receive admirers and participate in a meet-and-greet outside of 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square on Wednesday.

Koch, who wasn’t immediately available for comment, got a recent warning from a city animal bylaw officer that his sheep — which he’s had on his 1.4 hectare, semi-rural property for more than 20 years — are illegal.

The bylaw official warned Koch that he would have to get rid of the sheep by late September or pay $500 per sheep, up to a maximum fine of $10,000.

According to an Edmonton bylaw, livestock cannot be kept within city limits unless the land is zoned for agricultural purposes. Koch’s neighbourhood is zoned rural-residential. A city official was not immediately available for comment.

Even the backing of his neighbours hasn’t helped Koch’s case. He told a reporter from Global News that he has received an outpouring of support from the people in his community — people whose lawns his sheep have trimmed for years.

“You have these sheep you’ve saved from coyotes, they’ve given birth in the middle of winter and you’ve had to learn how to pull the babies out when they weren’t coming out the right way, you’ve done all these things, and then you have to give them up?”

“You [should] just make sensible rules where, if all the neighbours are OK, then you’re OK,” he added.

Koch seems to find it hard to believe that the city was unaware of his flock until now. His parents bought the property in the 60’s and have at different times kept chickens, pigs, rabbits, llamas and goats.

In response to an article about his case, Koch wrote that he was fined in the past when his llamas escaped and that he’s also been ticketed for having his sheep outside his farm in an area they shouldn’t be. But he maintains he’s never had a complaint from a neighbour he couldn’t resolve personally.

“I have certain neighbour who does not want sheep poop in certain high traffic spot. I simply go with pail and pick up the poop from there once in a while, takes much less time than lawnmowering that spot and suddenly that neighbour is happy. I also pick a few weeds out of that neighbours garden for my rabbits and that way am still in good books just in case sheep ever do something slightly wrong. May sound simple but it took 1 year+ to solve issue,” he wrote.

Edmonton launched a pilot project a year ago to allow successful applicants to keep hens in their yards, and the city also has a program for beekeepers.

In nearby Fort Saskatchewan, the city itself owns a large flock of sheep that it uses to trim the grass in public parks. Its flock is so popular that it has become a major tourist attraction.