Story perspectives

BC Lets Officers Kill Abandoned Sheep to Halt Disease

4/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

British Columbia changed regulations to allow wildlife officers to kill escaped or abandoned domestic sheep.
The province reclassified domestic sheep under the Wildlife Act to block Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae transmission to wild herds.
The bacteria spreads through shared grazing, water or salt sources and can cause rapid pneumonia outbreaks in wild sheep.
Abandoning sheep on Crown land is now an offence and the ministry may assume ownership of the animals.

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Story summary

British Columbia changed regulations to allow wildlife officers to kill escaped or abandoned domestic sheep.
The province reclassified domestic sheep under the Wildlife Act to block Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae transmission to wild herds.
The bacteria spreads through shared grazing, water or salt sources and can cause rapid pneumonia outbreaks in wild sheep.
Abandoning sheep on Crown land is now an offence and the ministry may assume ownership of the animals.