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American Cotswold Record AssociationThe Original Registry Of Purebred Cotswold Sheep
(Background of this page is an actual photo of super-lustrous Cotswold fleece) |
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In the 1980s, to preserve the unique and potentially valuable emerging Black Cotswold breed, three wise ACRA shepherdesses--June Mullen of PA., Pat LaBrecque of NH., and Pat Frisella of ME., patiently assembled paperwork and bloodline documentation to start the Black Cotswold Society. It was a rousing success, allowing colored sheep (and ACRA-approved sheep that produced color) to be registered. The Black Cotswold breed's bloodline record was thus established--an American treasure and an historical first. Years later a new faction (perhaps unacquainted with the established Black Cotswold breed) began a campaign to try to force ACRA to register what was being called "all Cotswolds" (even unsubstantiated bloodlines). But ACRA's corporate charter requires unanimous consent of the membership in order to change the definition of "Cotswold Sheep." From 1996 to 2002, numerous attempts to "shoehorn" the questionable sheep into ACRA failed. A regrettably hostile campaign against ACRA's historical standards followed, eventually resulting in the dismissal of the most extreme dissidents. The campaigners had not only actively pursued conflict with, and hurtful of, the interests of other ACRA-members, but were openly exhibiting (and offering for sale) sheep as "Cotswolds" whose bloodlines were unsubstantiated. There was a "silver lining" to that sad but necessary action: It served to reinforce breeder confidence in the integrity of the original (ACRA) Cotswold bloodlines. It also bolstered the trust members place in the ACRA registry, to protect their investment in genuine, historic Cotswold sheep. In addition, the removal of the conflict-of-interest flocks from ACRA helped uphold the status of the unmixed Cotswold and the Black Cotswold breeds, enhancing the predictability of color and/or white bloodlines. For more information on the Black Cotswold breed of sheep please contact: Linda Schauwecker, 18 Elm Street, P.O. Box 59, Plympton, MA 02367; Phone: (781) 585-1639 FAX: (781) 585-2026 E-mail: BCSregistry@CotswoldSheep.us.com |
Last Updated: 05/09/2011
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