E-I-E-I-No? Farmer told animal crossing signs not allowed on N.L. road

A livestock farmer in western Newfoundland is upset that the province'stransportation department won't allow the animal crossingsigns he purchased to be installed on the road near his property.

Sam Jesso has a farm in Ship Cove on the Port au Port Peninsula.

His property straddles Route 460, a provincial highway, and he worries that one of his animals couldend up on the road.

"I do have a safety concern here. One day there might be a bad accident here and somebody could get hurt or killed or else my animals might get badly hurt or killed," he said.

That's why he decided to spend $500 on special road signs to givemotorists advancewarning that his cows, sheep, ducks and other animals could be in their way.

Jessosaid he tried to buy signs that were a similar colour and size to what government uses, but knew he wouldn't be allowed to install them himself. That's why he asked the government to do it.

"I figured I am saving the taxpayers money by buying these signs myself and these guys can put them up," Jesso told CBCRadio'sCorner Brook Morning Show.

"But then they come back and say they can't do this or they can't do that that's not the way it's supposed to be."

Red tape tangle

The Department of Transportation and Works said Jesso'ssigns aren't suitable for a provincial highway.

In a response to CBC, the department said signs must meet national and provincial standards to ensure consistency and that "people understand them."

"If they don't like the size of them, then go purchase bigger ones and put them up. As long as it says livestock and farm animals," Jesso said.

But the department told him it couldn't install its own "animal crossing" or "livestock crossing" signs and could only put up signs warning about cows not the other animals on the Ship Cove farm.

"They told me that it was not in their regulations, they will only put up cattle crossing signs in their zones," he said.

Jessoadmits he should have contacted the department before he went out and spent his hard-earned money.

He also understands that people might argueit's his responsibility to keep his animals off the road.

But he says it's impossible to keep an eye on them all the time and that other places in the world, such as New Zealand, put up signs to warn drivers aboutsheep or other farm critters.

"You have moose and caribou that will sometimes knock down the fence, you have people who will sometimes knock down the fence. Gates get open accidentally, you can take all kinds of measures for safety but there will always be things that will happen."

The transportation department saidit has proposed alternatives toJessoand will continue working with him to come up with a solution.