Farming, vets, horses and elephants...
Margaret Boyde, compliance assessor, is the latest recruit to Freedom Food, her role includes reviewing on-farm assessment reports, completed to ensure everything is in order and that all farms comply with RSPCA welfare standards. The role often requires contact with farmers so Focus asked her to introduce herself:
“I grew up on a pig farm; we also had a small beef suckler herd and a few sheep. My Dad is a vet in general practice and I did start to train as a veterinary nurse when I left school, but gave that up to go to agricultural college and into farming.
“I can’t really remember ever not wanting to be a farmer and involved in agriculture and I have always been passionate about farm animal welfare. This was not always popular when I was at college.
“I ran the family farm for 10 years when I finished college. I think my Dad was probably the last farm to put farrowing crates in and I was probably one of the first to take them out again!
“I then heard about the Young Farmers Setting-up Scheme in France and managed to qualify and so had my own farm with 300 ewes and 20 suckler cows for 11 years near Verdun in the East of France.
“Divorce forced me back to England in 2008 and I struggled not being part of the farming community anymore. Then I saw my new job advertised in South Eastern Farmer and I can’t say how importantthis is for me. I miss being a farmer terribly but at least I am now involved in the industry again and working – in however small a way – to help improve farm animal welfare.
“My hobby is really horses – they don’t leave you time or money to do much else – but I love to ride and drive and hope to compete again, especially in dressage. I bred my two horses in France and brought them back home with me when I left. Before I left to live in France, I used to drive my Dad’s draught horses (Percherons) and we used to ‘horse’ the dray for the (now demolished) King and Barnes Brewery in Horsham, even opening a couple of pubs local to the RSPCA HQ in the West Sussex town.
“During my time on my parents farm, I have nursed a lot of large animal cases including RSPCA rescues. We have always been a bit of a dumping ground (in the nicest possible way of course) for animals that can’t be re-homed easily, which is how I came to care for Ranee the elephant for about 10 months in my pre-college farm year. A circus had winter quarters near us and my Dad was their vet. Ranee had become very poorly and needed intensive care and nursing; it was an experience I will never forget, they are such remarkable animals.”