Farmers accused
of stealing sheep the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had ordered slaughtered
because they might have scrapies walked out of court free people late last
week.
Linda
"Montana" Jones and Michael Schmidt were charged following an
investigation into the removal of 31 sheep from an Ontario farm in April 2,
2012, hours before the animals were to be euthanized.
The Canadian
Food Inspection Agency thought an animal with scrapie in an Alberta flock came
from Jones’ herd.
The defence has
argued that’s not proven and it could have come from the United States.
The judge
stayed charges against the abductors because it took too long to come to trial.
She also
criticized the government for taking too long to turn over information it held
to the defendants’ lawyer.
