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Sheep, Sea Eagles and
sensationalism
STUDENT DIARY
Alice McLeish
, Edinburgh
Third year veterinary student, Edinburgh University
The first topic relates to our dissertation
equivalent, which I have been doing this
summer. My project is about the White Tailed
Sea Eagle reintroduction into Scotland, their
breeding rates, and a plan for further research
into the extent of eagle/lamb predation.
It surprises people that my two main interests
are Sea Eagles and sheep, but despite news
reports of eagles feasting on lambs, I don’t
believe, and the current research doesn’t
support, that eagles are a significant problem
[see ‘The Impact of White Tailed Sea Eagles
on Sheep Farming on Mull’ (http://
www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/4706
0/0014566.pdf)]. Journalists only report the
dramatic stories, but this makes the extreme
appear the norm. There was recently a photo
published of an eagle carrying a lamb away
- while this does happen, anecdotal stories
work both ways: I know a sea eagle nest in
a tree in a lambing field, and over 10 years
no lambs have been taken, but this doesn’t
make a good news story. Sea Eagles will eat
lambs, but I don’t believe they don’t cause
the devastation suggested in news reports.
That is one of the few cases though where
farmers are actually seen as the victims by the
press - far too often they are vilified, as seen
in a recent Independent article ‘A Wool
Jumper is Just as Cruel as a Mink Coat.’ This
article was widely read by my friends, with
many proclaiming to stop using any sheep
About me
Twenty-one years ago, I met my first sheep
while on holiday on the Isle of Skye. My
delighted parents realised they'd finally
found something to keep me occupied, as
I spent the whole week pressed against
the window of our house, baa-ing at all
the sheep that went past. Jokingly, they
said I must be going to be a vet (I couldn't
say ‘Mummy’ or ‘Daddy’, my vocabulary
consisting entirely of animals and animal
noises). Several years on, here I am in
my third year studying to be a vet in
Edinburgh, the city I grew up in, with the
hope of becoming a mixed practice vet
once I graduate.
Every semester, the vet school holds ethics debates - such as on halal
meat, veterinary costs and intensive farming methods. One of the
general consensuses of these debates is that journalistic sensationalism
amplifies most issues. During the summer I’ve had strong debates
concerning farming on two particular topics. In both cases I feel that
reporting has created bigger problems that the issue merited.
products. Again I believe this is journalists
magnifying rare happenings to common
occurrences - for example, that shearing
sheep is cruel and done purely for money;
this is certainly not the case at any farm I
have known. The article goes on to talk of the
cruelty of tail-docking and castrating, but fails
to mention the justifiable, often necessary,
reasons for doing so.
I believe it is one of the benefits of the
veterinary profession that we are seen as
providing a more neutral view on this sort of
case; being seen as caring for the individual
animal’s welfare, but being able to
understand the livestock owner’s perspective,
and being able to explain this to others.
University started back in the middle of
September; the first semester is mainly
dedicated to a farm animal course, so I hope
that by the end of this, amongst other things,
I will have a greater ability to explain farm
practices to others.
Healthy lambs require good husbandry
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
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