Madsen’s disparages researchers

Sue Lani Madsen accuses wildlife research scientists of lacking common sense and concern for animal welfare (“Stress and common sense,” April 8), contrasting the care she provides her domestic goats with the research methods used by wildlife scientists. She further attempts to argue that the researcher’s handling of newborn bighorn lambs caused them to die.

While I can’t speak to Madsen’s goat husbandry practices, as a sheep producer and veterinarian I can say that it is routine to shear and vaccinate pregnant ewes and to medicate and ear-tag their lambs at birth. While this undoubtedly creates a degree of stress, I have not seen any long-term negative effects in my flock from these routine livestock husbandry practices, and I believe that if Madsen were to actually speak to the researchers she disparages, or do a more in-depth review of their findings, she would learn that the routine wildlife research techniques employed were not the likely cause of the bighorn lambs’ deaths.

The researchers who have dedicated their lives to the study and conservation of bighorn sheep are every bit as knowledgeable, passionate and concerned about “their” animals as I am about my sheep, and as Ms. Madsen is about her goats.

Kristin Mansfield, DVM

Cheney