ROLLINSFORD — Nearly a decade after pioneering a first-of-its-kind effort to breed pathogen-free sheep that may be the healthiest in the world, Richard and Julie Hurley say they have the future of agriculture right in their backyard.

“What we've done here is very novel,” Julie said, walking alongside the gates that house the lambs and sheep in the barn she and her husband had constructed for the farm.

The Hurleys are both veterinarians and founded the operation in 2005. At the time, Richard was working at Massachusetts General Hospital as a senior clinician at the Center for Comparative Medicine, and saw a need for healthy sheep to be available to scientists.

“The original motivation was trying to eliminate the reasons why animals were not suitable for what they were needed for,” Richard said.

Pathogens and diseases like pneumonia and worms the sheep can contract with nose-to-nose contact and feces contamination were impeding the efficiency and ability to conduct the sensitive medical research. The research then becomes costlier and requires use of a greater number of animals.

Richard and Julie decided in 2005 to try breeding pathogen-free sheep that could benefit the medical community as research would no longer be impeded by contagious diseases.

And so was born New England Ovis, a licensed United States Department of Agriculture Class A breeder.

The couple admits developing the farm was expensive, but after eight years, it's paying off. What started with a closed flock purchased from Vermont has developed into a full-scale breeding operation that closely monitors, cares for and manages the sheep and their lambs.

“We do this in a very loving and conscious way,” Julie said.

Each lamb is given daily socialization with humans where they are held and engaged, which Julie said allows them to grow in a stress-free environment where they're used to human interaction.

The sheep are grouped by size and fed in groups, and family members live together so they can engage in natural behavior from birth to maturation.

Due to the need for strict biosecurity, all breeding is done within the existing flock.

The biological makeup of sheep and humans are very similar, which is why sheep have been used for vital medical research for many purposes including heart, lung and bone study. Sheep from New England Ovis have aided in research for developing better ultrasound techniques, safer anesthetics for surgery, information on safer blood transfusions, smoke inhalation treatment and other initiatives.

Richard and Julie are well aware of the public controversy surrounding animal research for medical purposes, but they stress the New England Ovis operation is the most efficient and healthy way to provide those research opportunities.

“If you accept the premise at this point in time that animals are necessary to progress research, you want to do it with the least number of animals that are under the least amount of stress,” Julie said. “It's better for the animals and better for the research.”

She said since a demand for quality medical research exists, it's important to conduct that research with as little stress on the animals as possible.

The animals at New England Ovis are very tame and calm, which the couple credits to their husbandry and daily socialization.

Julie hand-raised and bottle-fed the first generation of sheep, and she and Richard continue to be in and out of the pens on a daily basis so the sheep are used to the interaction.

From that first generation of sheep, it has taken the couple seven years to grow the population enough to begin offering the animals for research purposes.

They have everything they need on-site to take care of any injuries or other medical needs of the sheep, and nothing is allowed to come in without proper bio-security precautions.

To limit potential exposure, visitors must wear protective shoe covers and suits over their clothes, the hay comes from a single, trusted source, and the sheep are constantly tested to ensure they're free of more than 30 diseases.

Julie stressed that biomedical research has changed quite a bit over the years following the passage of the Animal Welfare Act in 1966, which regulates the treatment of animals in research and exhibition.

“A lot of knowledge about animal welfare has developed over the past thirty years,” Julie said. “Biomedical research has changed so much. There are precautions for certain procedures and certain research requires special scrutiny. Everything is regulated, and the people who take care of the animals care about the animals.”

They have visited the research facilities where the sheep are handled and know the people who care for the sheep.
She and Richard said they try to educate people that there is a lot of “wonderful research” out there.

“I think we have something the community can be proud of,” Julie said.