Edmonton orders sheep farmer to get the flock outta there
David Koch faces $25,000 in fines if he doesn't clear out flock by Sept. 20
For Edmonton sheep farmer David Koch, the wolf is at the door.
The city has long since swallowed up Koch's 3.5-acre hobby farm between Ellerslie Road and Anthony Henday Drive, west of 99th Street.
Though the acreage looks as rural as many beyond the city outskirts, it is no longer zoned for agricultural use. So more than two decades after Koch started his farm with a pair of animals, his flock of 50 sheep now faces eviction.
If he can't find someone to take on his woolly tenants, he says they'll likely end up on the butcher's block.
"It's not fun, but you do the best you can," he said. "It's kind of like when the coyotes come and kill 10 of your sheep — it's one of these things. Fifty per cent chance I'll have to get rid of them. I won't be able to win."
The wolf in this case comes in the form of an order from the city, after a bylaw officer stumbled upon the flock and brought it to the attention of the city's animal control department.
Koch is pleading with the city to allow him to continue farming until residential development actually arrives at his farm gate. But the city won't bite.
"I think people in the city of Edmonton want it to be not a farm community and don't want to be hearing roosters and cows and goats and all kinds of other animals in their community at this time," said Keith Scott, Edmonton's animal control co-ordinator.
Koch said he doesn't have any roosters or cows or goats, and maintains his sheep are not bothering anyone.
In fact, he said, many of his neighbours ask him to graze the herd on their lawns as "living lawnmowers."
"It's kind of something I think makes the world a little bit better," he said.
But at $500 per animal, Koch could end up paying $25,000 in fines if he doesn't clear out by Sept. 20.
"The rules are in place for a reason, and we want to be consistent with the bylaw and ensure that people are following it so that you don't stray outside of it," Scott said.
"You start to bend the rules a little bit and it's zoned differently, then everyone's going to try and open it up."
Scott said his department will help Koch relocate the sheep and is willing to be flexible about the deadline, but not the bylaw.