Let's get the flock out of here: foot and mouth strands dancing sheep in scotland

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farmers all over the United Kingdom are concerned about their livelihoods due to the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease   in southern England. But for one man stuck in rural

Scotland, travel restrictions imposed because of the outbreak are already costing him thousands. Stuart Barnes was on tour in Scotland with "The Sheep Show"  -- an educational

30-minute show which features dancing sheep doing "The Hustle" and teaches the public about different breeds -- when the outbreak happened. Due to perform at an agricultural show

in Turriff near Aberdeen when the travel restrictions were imposed, he has spent the last two weeks stuck in the town, waiting to find out when he can make the over 500-mile (800-kilometer)

journey home to Norfolk in England. "The business is slipping through my hands," the 35-year-old New Zealander told SPIEGEL ONLINE Thursday. "I'm losing thousands of

pounds every day." He has been told that he may not be allowed to return home until Sept. 10. If that is the case, he will lose at least £35,000 (€52,000), plus expenses, due to

cancelled shows, he said. In the meantime, Barnes' nine sheep are being kept in quarantine on the farm of Turriff show secretary Bruce Ferguson. "We're keeping them in a

paddock until the travel restrictions are lifted," Ferguson, who runs an arable farm and has not been affected by the foot and mouth outbreak, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Barnes, who has been

sleeping in his truck, has been forced to rely on local hospitality. "Fortunately I'm surrounded by very kind people who have been helping me out," he said. "I've

been trying to repay them by helping on the farms." He is infuriated by the delay in being allowed to return, pointing out that two incubation periods have already passed and the

outbreak has been contained. "They should let me go home or at least give me some kind of direction," he says. "The authorities themselves don't seem to know what's

going on." Fortunately his business partner Richard Savory, who began "The Sheep Show" 14 years ago, managed to make it home after the outbreak. The Sheep Show features nine

performing sheep of different breeds, who appear on a podium. "They read their name tags and go and stand on the right spot," Barnes said. As well as what he described as a

"live striptease," where a sheep gets sheared, the highlight of the show is a dance routine where the sheep "move in time to the music," he said. One sheep even has

dreadlocks which he shakes in time to the music. Barnes said the sheep are natural performers. "They love it," he said. "When they see the truck, they come running to get

loaded up." Ferguson, who has seen the show, described it as "humorous" and "educational." "It's quite novel, really," he said.