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Man spotted taking sheep on train

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TheManBehind

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In the UK I believe that a Horse is a domestic Animal and also possible a pet sheep when kept as a pet, so that would be interesting argument over conditions of travel.
I suspect that in railway terms, if it traditionally would have travelled in a livestock wagon, it's considered livestock for the purposes of the NRCOT - in this case I imagine that animals bovine, ovine and equine would likely be gently ushered off the service. A service horse, however...that would be an interesting discussion.
 
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Segedunum

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I suspect the 'livestock' rule is more designed to prevent a farmer deciding to take a herd of cattle to market (or a flock of hens, or similar).
 

och aye

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I suspect the 'livestock' rule is more designed to prevent a farmer deciding to take a herd of cattle to market (or a flock of hens, or similar).
Some passengers might actually prefer to be sat next to a flock of hens than a group of loud, drunken, aggressive sounding men. :lol:

Just to say some of these puns have been pretty good. I suppose it isn't something that you eweually see at the station or train... I'll get me coat. :oops::E
 

Morayshire

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Man captured on CCTV defends taking his lamb on a train

A former Royal Marine who was spotted with a lamb on a lead at a railway station in Renfrewshire has told the BBC: "It may be odd but it's not wrong."

Jai Gibson was captured on CCTV walking the sheep at Paisley Gilmour Street station on Monday evening.

The image sparked a number of commuters to publish on social media about their encounters with the 61-year-old and his woolly companion.
Scotrail said there is nothing to say sheep are not allowed on trains and the animal complied with its rules that pets should be on a lead

Passengers on the train were surprised to see the woolly passenger

Mr Gibson said the lamb, whom he calls NJ, was the latest of many pet sheep he has cared for over the years.

He said it began about 10 years ago when he discovered a lamb in distress as he walked through a field in rural Renfrewshire.

Mr Gibson said he carried the animal for several miles to the farmer, the late Hugh Caldwell, and asked him what he should do.

Mr Caldwell, from East Mitchelton Farm near Kilbarchan, told him he would have to look after the lamb as it would now have become attached to him.

The ex-Marine, who has served in the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Iraq, says he and the farmer struck an agreement where he would care for orphaned lambs in exchange for him staying on his land.
Since then Mr Gibson says he has cared for almost 200 orphaned lambs and admits it is an "addiction".

Jai says it's not wrong to take a lamb on a train

He says he has been travelling by train with his pet lamb because he cannot drive due to suffering from black-outs.

"People were walking dogs into town, I would take the sheep down to the pub," he said.

Mr Gibson said he struggles around people and caring for the lambs gives him a focus and direction.

He said NJ would now have to stay at the farm after people have complained about his train journeys but he will still be feeding her so she does not feel abandoned.

Michelle Robertson told the BBC she had to do a "double-take" after she saw Mr Gibson on the train with the lamb.

The 38-year-old, from Glasgow, was returning from a family outing to the beach at Largs on Sunday afternoon, one of the hottest days of the year, when she encountered the pair.
She said: "As it was so hot, I thought my mind was playing tricks, and I initially thought, 'What kind of dog is this?' before realising it was a lamb.

Mrs Robertson, who is originally from Canada, said her one-year-old son Montgomery and other children on-board the busy carriage petted the animal which she said was calm with a good temperament.

Another young traveller who was taken aback by the unusual sight of a lamb on a lead was eight-year-old Ava Templeton, from Airdrie, who was travelling with her father, Gary.

She said the lamb was "trying to nibble my hat," but the animal was soft to the touch, and "felt like a pillow".

Scotrail saw the funny side and put a post on X of a CCTV image of Mr Gibson strolling along the platform at Paisley Gilmour Street.

The rail operator said in a statement, "Monday evening brought one of the more ewe-nique sights on Scotland's Railway.

"We're used to livestock on the line causing disruption, but thankfully, this visitor at Paisley Gilmour Street was on a lead and well baa-haved."

Scotrail's policy on animals on onboard trains states domestic pets are welcome and that includes dogs, cats or tortoises – but they must be on a lead or in a travel cage.
So sheep are allowed on trains as long as they are on a lead apparently
 
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6Gman

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Ph-ewe. There shouldn't be any ban on animals on trains, so long as they aren't disruptive or dangerous. It's not a good precedent to ban sheep, because some may argue that dogs aren't too dissimilar to sheep, and then what?
Lot easier to train a dog than a sheep - especially in terms of defecation!

Moving a sheep in this way may also be a breach of animal health regulations.

The guy obviously treats the sheep well and benefits from it, but rules are rules and are (generally) there for a reason. In this case, disease control.
 

fwsmVor

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I'd rather sit next to a species of animal known for being docile, inoffensive and cowardly than one that regularly attacks people.
 

4COR

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I've sat on a GWR service (ex-Cotswold line...) opposite a young lady travelling from her farm based work experience to home in S London, who had a lamb laying in a box on her lap. It was orphaned and she was taking it home to look after it for the weekend. No idea what her parents would have thought with that frolicing around their kitchen...
 

StephenHunter

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I suspect the 'livestock' rule is more designed to prevent a farmer deciding to take a herd of cattle to market (or a flock of hens, or similar).
Post-war German railbuses were known as "Piglet taxis", FWIW.

There's a story reported in Tanya Jackson's book on BR about a guy who took a live chicken on the train with him. When told he wasn't allowed to take it, he got out a pen knife and cut its throat. At which point, he was arrested.
 

duffield

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I have seen two guys move a massive oak table via a local bus in Oslo before
I know someone who twenty-odd years ago took all the equipment for a small hydroponic grow setup (tank, lights etc.)** home on the bus from the parcels depot.

** For - err - growing "special tomato plants" of course. :E
 

AndrewE

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I have seen two guys move a massive oak table via a local bus in Oslo before

I know someone who twenty-odd years ago took all the equipment for a small hydroponic grow setup (tank, lights etc.)** home on the bus from the parcels depot.:E
My most surreal or amusing journey was on a Swansea double-decker going to the Gower, when lots of local kids kept boarding en route with their [full size] surf boards...
 

GordonT

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A member of staff at Gilmour Street told the man to "Get the flock out of here!".
 

styles

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londonbridge

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Ah, but was it one of those that figured out that a sheep’s life largely consists of standing around in a field for three months and then being eaten?…..That’s a depressing prospect for a young, ambitious sheep…….(let’s see who knows their tv comedy…..)
 

Howardh

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Ride the horse to the station, take it on the train, and ride it at the other end. Zero carbon multi-modal commuting
Some of these e-bikes seem to be bigger than horses and they go on a train!

Edit; actually I think e-bikes are "banned" on some services (??) therefore a horse - or a sheep - has got more chance of a ride!
 
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Sakuradori

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Some of these e-bikes seem to be bigger than horses and they go on a train!

Edit; actually I think e-bikes are "banned" on some services (??) therefore a horse - or a sheep - has got more chance of a ride!
I doubt I could get a foldable horse to go on Thameslink, sadly
 

Dr_Paul

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I'm surprised the article hasn't mentioned it, but taking a sheep on a train isn't officially allowed. From the conditions of travel: 24.6 Livestock and non-domestic animals cannot be carried in any circumstances.

That said, what would a pet chicken in a pet carrier count as? They're considered livestock irrespective in many legal senses.
Shouldn't the regulation say 'may not be carried'? It is physically possible to get most animals on to a train, perhaps apart from something the size of a horse or cow. 'May not' means that such an act is breaking the regulation; 'cannot' doesn't.
 

styles

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Shouldn't the regulation say 'may not be carried'? It is physically possible to get most animals on to a train, perhaps apart from something the size of a horse or cow. 'May not' means that such an act is breaking the regulation; 'cannot' doesn't.
May not or must not would make sense.

This does though border into a territory of rule-writing which 13 years ago twisted my arm into forming a committee of people who really (really) cared about the wording of rules to the point they would quote the UN editorial guide when considering whether bullet pointed items should end with nothing, commas, semi-colons, or full stops; simply to avoid them taking up the time of our charity's main decision-making body.
 

StephenHunter

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Some of these e-bikes seem to be bigger than horses and they go on a train!

Edit; actually I think e-bikes are "banned" on some services (??) therefore a horse - or a sheep - has got more chance of a ride!
A horse could explode in a rather different way of course.
 

zuriblue

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A couple of years ago some farmers returned from an agricultural fair near St Gallen, Switzerland, and took a cow on a local Thurbo train. (Thurbo is a regional operator in Eastern Switzerland wholly owned by the SBB)

The driver took no action and the farmers did board with a bucket, straw and shovels in case of unforeseen events.

In fact Thurbo found it rather amoosing.


(Photo shows a group of farmers with a cow on board a Thurbo Stadler GTW.)

IMG_0233.jpeg
 

AdamWW

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On the delightful Septemvri–Dobrinishte narrow-gauge line narrow gauge line in Bulgaria (well worth a trip on) I saw a bit of an altercation at one station as the guard appeared to be refusing travel to someone who wanted to take what looked like a rather poorly goat on the train.

Understandable to refuse, but as with most cases where people are attempting to take something unsuitable on a train, it was probably because he didn't have much of an alternative rather than just to be awkward.
 

Calthrop

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On the delightful Septemvri–Dobrinishte narrow-gauge line narrow gauge line in Bulgaria (well worth a trip on) I saw a bit of an altercation at one station as the guard appeared to be refusing travel to someone who wanted to take what looked like a rather poorly goat on the train.

Understandable to refuse, but as with most cases where people are attempting to take something unsuitable on a train, it was probably because he didn't have much of an alternative rather than just to be awkward.
Something I've quoted before on the Forums (involving my favourite travel writer, the late Dervla Murphy -- about whom I can wax boring) -- this anecdote cited by me in fact, in a previous thread on this sub-forum, re this general subject -- "Animals in seats [on trains]", in October 2023. Murphy was travelling around Bulgaria's neighbour Romania in the early 1990s: much journeying by rail -- more than once, encountered fellow-passengers travelling accompanied by a pig, in passenger accommodation. The lady was a thoroughly un-fussy sort, and great animal-lover: she was highly in favour. Quoting her, on one such episode: "I travelled second class, opposite an endearing old couple with quite a large pig in a poke [sic] on their adjacent laps. He slept in transit but woke at each stop and squealed most piteously -- causing his owners to stroke him through the sack while crooning a a sort of lullaby." (No mention made, of guards / ticket collectors being bothered in the slightest, about porcine passengers.)
 
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