Raw Milk Advocate Michael Schmidt Facing Criminal Charges of Sheep Theft

Dec 06, 2012

Four Charged in the Unlawful Removal of Sheep Quarantined for Scrapie

An Ontario farmer best known for his legal battle for producing and selling raw milk is now facing theft charges for taking sheep from a quarantined farm. The sheep were being quarantined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) over concerns that the Shropshire sheep had a disease known as scrapie.

Schmidt is one of four who have been charged with what’s becoming known as the Montana Jones Scrapies case. The other three who are facing charges in addition to Schmidt are Montana Jones, Suzanne Atkinson and Robert Pinnell. The charges were laid following an investigation into 31 sheep that had gone missing from an Ontario farm on April 2, 2012. The charges include obstructing a CFIA inspector, transportation of animals under quarantine and conspiracy to defraud the public service. The sheep were later tracked back to a farm near Chesley, Ontario.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.