The government of British Columbia has modified its regulations to grant wildlife officers expanded authority to euthanize escaped or deserted domestic sheep to safeguard wild sheep populations. This adjustment in the classification of domestic sheep under the Wildlife Act aims to prevent the transmission of diseases that could cause significant mortality among wild herds. While domestic and wild sheep can both contract similar infectious agents, their immune responses and disease resistance levels vary. An infectious bacterium called M. ovi, or Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, commonly present in domestic sheep and goats, typically does not cause illness in these animals but can provoke fatal pneumonia in wild sheep. According to the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, this bacterium can spread through wild populations rapidly, primarily through shared grazing areas, water sources, or salt licks. Moreover, the updated regulations now consider abandoning sheep on Crown land as a violation and empower the ministry to take ownership of such animals.