Can You Feed Kitchen Scraps to Sheep? What the Law Says

It's easy to assume a couple of pet sheep grazing a paddock are exempt from the kind of rules that apply to commercial farming — but catering waste bans make no such distinction, and sheep are squarely inside it.

Not a pig-specific rule, and sheep have direct history with the disease it prevents

The UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is explicit: the catering waste ban applies to “livestock such as pigs and poultry, even if they are being kept as pets,” and extends to any farmed animal of any species — which includes sheep, whether kept for wool, for grazing, or purely as pets. APHA, catering waste ban. It became illegal to feed catering waste to farmed animals in the UK in 2001, and the ban was later adopted across the whole of the (then) European Community in 2003.

Why the ban exists

The 2001 foot and mouth outbreak that led to the ban is thought to have started with pigs fed undercooked catering waste — but sheep were among the animals hit hardest by the disease itself. That outbreak resulted in the destruction of more than 10 million cattle and sheep, with compensation running into many millions of pounds. The ban exists to stop a repeat, and sheep have as much stake in it as any species it covers.

What counts as catering waste

Catering waste means all waste food originating in restaurants, catering facilities and household kitchens — that covers your own dinner leftovers and vegetable peelings, not just restaurant or café waste. APHA's guidance specifically notes that even a vegetarian kitchen is covered, because of cross-contamination risk from animal-derived products like milk used in food preparation.

What you can do instead

Feed a proper sheep diet — grazing, hay and a suitable concentrate sized to bodyweight, not kitchen leftovers. Our feed guide gives real dry matter figures by weight, and the feed cost calculator turns that into a daily, weekly and monthly budget.

The US: no equivalent federal rule found

The US federal law governing garbage-feeding, the Swine Health Protection Act, is specific to swine and doesn't extend to sheep. We haven't found an equivalent federal restriction for sheep, which doesn't mean there isn't one at state level — check your state department of agriculture and any local rules before feeding anything that's been through a kitchen.

Sources: Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), “APHA warns not to feed kitchen scraps to farm animals because of disease risk” (11 January 2017): gov.uk. Sources checked: September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Common questions

Is it illegal to feed kitchen scraps to pet sheep in the UK?

Yes. APHA's guidance is explicit that the catering waste ban applies to any farmed animal species kept, fattened or bred by humans, including animals kept solely as pets — sheep are named livestock, so a pet sheep is covered the same as a commercial flock.

Does the 2001 outbreak connect to sheep specifically?

Very directly, though not through the scraps rule itself. The 2001 foot and mouth outbreak that triggered the catering waste ban resulted in the destruction of more than 10 million cattle and sheep — sheep were among the animals most affected by the disease the ban exists to prevent, even though the outbreak is thought to have started with pigs.

What counts as kitchen scraps for a sheep?

Any waste food from a domestic or commercial kitchen, including vegetarian households — APHA's guidance specifically notes vegetarian kitchens are still covered, because of cross-contamination risk from animal-derived products like milk used in food preparation.

Is there a US federal rule for feeding sheep food scraps?

Not one we've found. The federal Swine Health Protection Act that governs garbage-feeding is specific to swine — we haven't found an equivalent federal rule for sheep, so check your state department of agriculture and local rules directly.